Sango's Ordeal
by Mina Maxwell
Summary: Time for a little role reversal: Sango follows a man who turns out to be a youkai and ends up leading her into an timeless void and only her true love will be able to find her. Will Miroku be this person, or will Sango be lost forever? Complete.
1. The Festival

Author's notes and disclaimer: This is my first Inu-Yasha fanfiction, and as I'm rather new to the series I could have a few characters out of—well—character. I'd like to thank Miss Chiba Usagi for helping me write this. 

Neither she nor I own Inu-Yasha; those privileges belong to Rumiko Takahashi. We are poor college students, please do not sue us for using your characters. When we are done writing our own television show and procuring those rights, we give you permission to write stories about our characters. J 

Sango's Ordeal

-Every good quest begins with… groping, swearing, and a festival. -

~ Prologue ~

The young man stirred from his slumber. Raising his right hand to his head, he felt the beads of the rosary he had wrapped around it graze his brow. Miroku opened his eyes remembering where he was. He looked to his right to see how Sango had slept, only she was no longer resting against the rock on the other side of the chamber. _'Sango,'_ he thought starting to sit up only to realize that the weight that clung to him was neither his robes, nor a blanket, but the head of the young brunette woman resting on his torso. Miroku let out a sigh of relief, for a second he thought he'd lost her again. 

Sango's head lay just at the base of his ribs, her right arm draped across his waist. She slept peacefully for the first time in nearly a week, and Miroku didn't want to ruin that. So he placed his hands above his head to resist any temptation of doing something he would regret, if not in the moment, when she woke up. However, knowing she was that close, and of her own accord, wasn't something he could take lightly and thus sleep did not return to him. Instead Miroku lay awake thinking about the past week that put them in this situation. 

~ Chapter One: The Festival ~ 

"Osuwari!"

THUD

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH Inu-Yasha get him!"

Inu-Yasha sat on the ground arms crossed with a look of indignation written across his features. _'That's what I was trying to do before she 'sat' me,'_ he thought smugly. 

Today had not been one of the Shikon-gumi's better days. Inu-Yasha and Miroku had been at each other's throats all week. The situation wasn't helped any when they passed an old monk on the way and Inu-Yasha started out after him before he was close enough to spit on them. Kagome seeing a problem arising 'sat' him before he could attack the old man. However, when Kagome went to apologize to the old man he bowed placing his head between her breasts and grabbed her ass at the same time. She shrieked slapped the man and yelled out for reinforcements when the man wouldn't let go of her. Inu-Yasha turned a deaf ear quite upset with her for 'sitting' him. So…

WHACK!!!! Sango took out her hiraikotsu and smacked the old man off the path, gave Miroku a defiant look which forced him to stop laughing if he didn't want to be hit next, and said, "Now can we, please, continue walking?" She glared at Inu-Yasha who snorted out a "feh" and got to his feet. 

They walked along the path in silence, for the most part. Shippou kept trying to lighten the mood but his gags seemed to be having an adverse affect. As they neared a town Kagome lifted her head and stared off in its direction. 

"What is it?" Sango asked.

"Do you sense a shard?" Miroku asked.

Kagome shook her head, "Don't you hear it?"

"What?" Shippou and Miroku asked together.

"Music," Inu-Yasha grunted pretending not to be talking to Kagome.

"Music? A Festival!" Sango said, "That's just what this group needs." She grabbed Kagome and Inu-Yasha by the wrists and dragged them towards the town. Miroku, Shippou and Kirara followed shrugging (and looking completely indifferent, as any cat-demon should).

The village was strewn with ribbons, banners, and color in general. Shippou's eyes about shot out of his head at the elaborate outfits a pair walking past wore. Sango looked from face to face and could tell that just being here wouldn't be enough. She took a deep breath put on a happy face and said, "Now all we need is a place to stay."

Miroku smiled, following her train of thought, "Leave that to me," and with that, he was off. In fifteen minutes he was back having secured lodging at the ritziest place in town. 

"I don't even want to know how you do it," Sango smiled pushing Kagome ahead of her into a room and shutting the door behind them. 

"Feh," Inu-Yasha said as the guys were forced to wait outside. 

Miroku shrugged, "Women."

Shippou looked from one guy to the other and then looked at Kirara and shrugged and they left to explore. 

Nearly an hour later, Sango pulled back the paper door and stepped out wearing a fitting pink and yellow kimono. She had pulled her hair up into a bun decorated with an ornate comb. She waved a hand back in the room, gesturing for Kagome to join her outside. "Come on," she coerced. 

Kagome timidly stepped out wearing a blue kimono embroidered with red flowers tied with a red sash. She carried a fan, had her hair pulled up similarly to Sango's, but a single red flower decorated it, and wore traditional wooden sandals. Kagome flushed a little when she saw Inu-Yasha's concentration break for a second. And then he was back at staring out into oblivion, obviously still mad at her. 

Sango nodded her head sideways looking at Miroku, who then abandoned his place on the rail. She then gently pushed Kagome towards Inu-Yasha and headed off grabbing Miroku's sleeve. 

"I'm sorry." Kagome said looking at the ground.

"Feh."

"I shouldn't have said… it."

Inu-Yasha looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Kagome tilted her head to meet his gaze. "I didn't know what you were doing. I thought you were just going to pounce on some innocent old man."

"Feh, I could smell that bastard's perversion a mile away."

"Inu-Yasha…"

"Well…you should trust my judgement, more."

"Feh," Kagome said pointedly pushing him off the rail and walking on. 

Inu-Yasha sat on the ground and thought, _'At least she didn't say 'sit.'' _

After hours of walking around, window-shopping, eating, and getting into the merriment, Sango's plan was finally taking affect. Sure Miroku couldn't restrain himself from hitting on every cute girl he passed, but for once Sango didn't let it bother her. She simply marveled in the fact that her plan had worked, and after Inu-Yasha picked himself up off the ground and met Kagome and the others at the stairs, they acted more than civil towards each other. Things went perfectly for a while. Sango and Kagome were window-shopping and Kagome was telling Sango what getting a piece of jewelry meant in her time. Sango saw an ornate mask in a window and slowly walked away from Kagome, who proceeded to talk; Sango paused noticing the pink crystals that were imbedded in the face. A man in the store was talking to a sales clerk. As he led her to the window, she picked up the mask, but that didn't stop Sango from staring at it. The man purchased the mask and left the store; Sango followed it and him. 

Kagome continued to tell anyone who would listen about the value of a receiving a ring in her time. Shippou was listening intently but not understanding anything that she was trying to explain. 

"But why would someone want a ring?"

"Because of what it symbolizes?"

"But you can't eat it, can you?"

Kagome sighed, and then let out a sudden yelp. Swinging around she smacked right into Miroku, who was clearly standing to close anyway. Clearly, based on the fact that his hand was still on her rear. Kagome glowered, "Mi-ro-ku" 

Miroku smiled and removed his hand, but before he had a chance to make any attempt at an apology Inu-Yasha had tackled him. 

"Kisama! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that to Kagome?"

"I forgot who she was for a minute."

Inu-Yasha raised an eyebrow, "Feh. Sure you fucking did."

"Well look at her, the kimono, the flowers, she doesn't look like Kagome."

Kagome was enraged, "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

Inu-Yasha pulled Miroku to his feet by his collar, "Are you trying to say that all the pretty, kimono-ed ladies have a kitsune youkai on their shoulder," he said pointing to Shippou? 

"W-well…"

Kirara sat on the ground looking up at the men going back and forth from face to face as they argued. 

Shippou looked over towards Sango for some help, when he saw her round a corner. "Uh… guys…" Shippou said hopping down from Kagome's shoulder. Shippou turned the corner chasing after Sango… but when he turned the corner the street was empty. Completely empty. 

Running back to the others Shippou tried to get their attention by screaming. "Guys! Guys! Sango's missing!!! GUYS!!!" Giving up on that idea he turned into a big pink, floating ball and began to gnaw, first, on Inu-Yasha's, then, on Miroku's head. They were both too absorbed in their argument to notice Shippou. However, Kagome noticed that he was trying to get their attention and looked up from the fight in front of and over her. She didn't see Sango anywhere. 

"Inu-Yasha, Miroku. Where's Sango?" she said walking between them.

"Hm?"

"What?" 

They followed her gaze as she caught Shippou in her arms and headed down the street. "That's what I was trying to tell you. She walked around this corner and disappeared."

"She did what?" Miroku asked. Running ahead of them he turned the corner and stopped. "We'll never be able to find her in this crowd."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: That's the end of the first Chapter. Let us know what you think, and if you like it or just want to know what happened to Sango I'll post more. Ja.


	2. The Void

Author's Notes: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed Chapter One. As always, I'd like to thank Usagi for helping concoct this story, and for proofreading it—my grammar can be atrocious. 

As usual we'd like to point out that we do not own Inu-Yasha or any of the characters from it. They are all owned by one talented person named Rumiko Takahashi. We'd like to thank her for not suing us for using her creations to inspire our tale. 

~ First Interlude ~

Miroku could see the sun beginning to rise outside the cave entrance. He looked down at Sango and carefully took his right hand and ran his fingers through her hair. To move his hand just a little further down her back was so tempting, but he resisted as she stirred in her sleep a little and tightened her grip around his waist. 

"Hn," Miroku smiled. Sango was hugging him of her own accord, and he was behaving himself. _'This is so surreal,'_ he thought reclining again this time leaving his hand entangled in her hair on her shoulder. 

~ Chapter Two: The Void ~

"I'm telling you she's not in this crowd. There was no crowd. She's gone. Someone took her or something!" 

"Shippou, look at these people, how could there not have been a crowd?"

Shippou sighed. No one was listening to him. 

"This is Sango, taiji-ya, abnormally strong woman and youkai hunter. There is no way she got kidnapped." Miroku reassured everyone. 

"Feh, she probably just got sick of watching you grope everyone and left." 

Miroku rolled his eyes, "I didn't grope EVERYONE!" he looked around at all the people staring at him angrily. "Well… I didn't grope her," he said meekly.

"For once," Shippou muttered under his breath looking intently at the walls of the corner store. 

**~**

In a dark winding cave deep beneath the surface of the earth, Sango walked cautiously along the not-so-well lit walls, following the man with the mask_. 'Of all the days to leave my hiraikotsu behind. Dammit Kagome, I knew this would happen, why did I listen to you?'_

The man slowed as he approached a widening in the cave. "Most people who become displaced when I leave that realm are only gone for a minute and then return to their world not realizing anything had happened. You're the first to actually follow me into my caverns." He turned to greet Sango. 

"Eh…heh," Sango smiled wishing she had her hiraikotsu. 

"Now what am I going to do with you, taiji-ya?"

"How did you know who I am?"

"Oh… my dear I know… everything," he said with a sneer and then faded out of the room, leaving the mask behind floating in air and then it too shimmered away into nothingness.

Sango stared in disbelief, "Uh… no. Nonononono…" she touched the walls. Solid. Then she heard something faint in the distance. _'Footsteps?'_ She followed the sound. 

**~**

"Sango!" Kagome called out. "Sango, where are you?"

Shippou was collapsed against the side of the building, having given up. He tapped every stone, not one moved; not one gave off odd vibes. He was just as puzzled as everyone else, except that he _knew_ something non-human was at work here. But what?

"Guys, we aren't getting anywhere, and screaming up and down the empty streets isn't helping."

"B-but… she has to be around here somewhere."

"Like I said… she's probably back waiting in the room." Inu-Yasha said heading back.

Miroku looked beyond worried. "But why wouldn't she tell someone?"

Kagome scooped a slumbering Shippou up and approached Miroku. "She's not out here anymore. You can stay if you like, but I agree that we should head back to the room at least once before continuing."

Miroku nodded. Kagome stepped aside and gestured for him to go first. She still hadn't forgiven him for earlier. 

Back at the Inn, everything was just as they left it. Clothes strewn across a futon, the contents of Kagome's back laying out on another, lipstick and perfume among them, and the hiraikotsu was propped up against a wooden beam of one wall. 

"Wait, she doesn't even have her giant boomerang? That's it; Sango's in trouble," Miroku didn't wait around long enough to hear any objections, explanations, or snickering at his concern before he was back down the street. This time he was taking Shippou's tale more seriously and was poking at the walls of the buildings, the street posts, the barrels and boxes lining the alleyway, the trees at the end of the street, and even someone's horse. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, and no secret passageways were opened in his pursuit. Miroku was disheartened, but he wasn't giving up. He sat down on a bench and watched the spot until morning. As the people began to wake up and take to the marketplace again, he kept an eye out for anyone who looked suspicious, disappeared into thin air, or was just loitering in the area. 

"You. What are you doing there?" He asked a kid who had been leaning against the post outside of the shop for nearly five whole minutes. 

"Uh… I'm waiting for my mom and sister to finish staring into the windows of the shops." The kid shrugged and then walked away thinking that Miroku was insane. 

An elderly woman was sitting on his bench when he turned around. "Hey, do you hang around here often?"

"Do I look young enough to be doing that kind of thing?" she eyed him suspiciously.

Miroku took a good look at the rather homely woman opposite him before taking a step back, "Forgive me. That's not what I meant. I was just wondering if you were here yesterday."

The woman eyed him as if he were on the menu, "Looking for the one you let get away, are you?" She reached out her bony hand to touch his robes. 

"E-eh heh…" Miroku really began to back away, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you," he said ready to run if she made another advancement.

"Hey Bouzu, did you sit out here all night?"

"Eh…" Miroku uttered as he backed into Inu-Yasha. "Sorta."

"What's a' matter? The baa-baa scaring you?" he said pushing the monk forward.

"Well if you must know, I was trying to ask her if she saw anything and she took it to be a come on." Miroku sidestepped and straightened his robes as if doing so would make him seem more important or believable. 

"Feh," Inu-Yasha said. He walked up to the old woman and Miroku watched as the woman smiled at Inu-Yasha, pointed towards the corner and talked to him for nearly five minutes straight. Inu-Yasha returned and said, "She says there's a mystical void in the middle of that alley."

Miroku fell over.

Getting to his feet he asked, "Did she say where it leads? Or how to open it?"

"Feh." Inu-Yasha grumbled. "I had to promise her a date with you to get her to tell me that much."

Miroku's eyes went wide. He turned to look at the old woman, who was now standing less than a foot away from him. "GAH!" he screamed and took off down the road.

The old woman looked at Inu-Yasha and said, "I thought he would have liked to get his fiancé back?"

Inu-Yasha shrugged, "Feh."

"Well when he comes back, tell him that only one man has ever been able to open that portal. The only way to know where it goes is to follow him, and you must wake the sleeping beauty with a kiss."

Inu-Yasha's left ear perked a little as he raised his eyebrow to question the woman, but she was gone. 

Kagome approached Inu-Yasha, "What are you doing standing in the middle of the street?"

"Feh," he said before walking on. 

"I thought you weren't mad at me anymore."

"Who says I'm mad at you now?" he looked at her puzzled.

"Oh," Kagome said realizing that 'feh' was because she pointed out that he was doing something stupid and not because he was mad, "So did you find Miroku?"

"He was hitting on a baa-baa," Shippou said landing on her shoulder. "Now he's cowering around the corner."

Miroku peered around the corner, not seeing the old woman he let out a deep sigh. When a tap came at his shoulder, he about jumped out of his skin, "Houshi-sama," a voice said behind him.

Miroku slowly turned around not at all surprised at who he saw standing there. 

"To find your true love you must follow your heart."

"Excuse me?" Miroku looked at the elderly woman that was now standing next to him.

"To find the girl that you seek."

"You mean Sango? I don't seek Sango. Well I seek her, but I don't _seek_ her," he stopped and looked around for some support. For someone to tell him that what he just said made sense. 

The old woman smiled a knowing smile at him. Light twinkled from her eyes as she said, "Then perhaps you do not know what you seek, or maybe you are just too stupid to listen to your heart." 

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Miroku felt a pawing at the hem of his robes. He looked down to see Kirara looking up at him, when he looked up from the cat-demon the old woman was gone. He looked around but stopped as he came to the street, "It's like she just vanished."

**~**

The cave widened into a great system of intertwined caverns. Sango came to a junction point. There were three different paths for her to pick from. Following the sound of the footsteps she headed to the far left. 

The passageway was unlit and she felt like she could have walked off the edge of the world and not known it. The inky blackness was so thick she couldn't even see the movement of her hands inches from her face. She proceeded slowly, knowing that as long as she followed the sound of the footsteps she wouldn't fall down any crevices. 

Sango stumbled along slowly wishing that she wasn't wearing a tightly drawn kimono and wooden shoes that made it near impossible to climb over small rocks. She slowed as she heard the footsteps echo off of the walls. The echoing made it sound as if there were more than a hundred people in front of her. As well as making it hard to follow, she couldn't be sure if the owner of those footsteps turned or not. Sango reached her hands out in front of her to balance herself as she tripped over a small protrusion on the floor surface. And then…

THUD! 

She had run straight into something hard. Sango took a step back and rubbed her nose. Luckily it wasn't bleeding or broken. She reached out in front of her and at first felt nothing. Moving in a little she found the object she had run into: a stalagmite. Sango swallowed hard as she edged herself around the rock formation—the footsteps were becoming more distant—her free hand touched another stalagmite and she slowly weaved around that one as well. Going from stalagmite to stalagmite and stalactite to stalactite in the dark wearing a kimono and tall wooden sandals was no picnic. To make matters worse, the person she was following could either see in the dark or knew his way in and out of this maze so fast that Sango didn't think she could hear the footfalls at all. 

If there had been even the teensiest glimmer of light, one would be able to see panic written across her face as she hurriedly picked up the pace. After a minute, Sango was getting the hand of swinging from rock to rock. Her natural athletic abilities were paying off even if she was wearing a dress. Relaxing a little, she didn't even realize what had happened as she stubbed the front support of her sandal on a little stalagmite and lost her balance completely. She flew head first into a great stalagmite smacking her head so hard she was instantly out cold. Sango lay in the pitch-blackness, blood trickling down her face, lost and unconscious.

**¥ **

Sango awoke in a well-lit cave. At the entrance, sat a familiar outline. The tall dark clad figure was sitting on a large rock staring out into the sunrise. Sango slowly got to her feet, dusted off her now sullied and torn kimono, tried to pull her hair back so that it wasn't in her face—with no luck—and walked over to him. She walked around the rock he sat on and smiled. "Miroku-san?"

"Hm?" the monk replied coming out of his trance-like vigil.

Sango approached standing directly before him now said, "How did you find me?"

Miroku smiled a crooked half smile and replied softly, "I followed my heart."

Sango didn't take her eyes off of him for a second when she whispered back, "So what took you so long?"

Miroku's response was sudden but, surprisingly, not unexpected. He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly as his lips feverishly met hers. Sango didn't pull away as one would expect. Instead she reached her arms up around his neck and returned the kiss if possible with even more vivacity. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: That's where I'm going to stop Chapter Two. Remember to review if you want more and to tell me what you think as always. 

Also, we'd like to warn that it may take a little longer to get the next chapter uploaded because we are on Christmas break and have to e-mail each other, but not to worry there will be more. J 


	3. The Mask

Author's Notes: Don't you just get sick of reading these things? How many of you have just completely skipped what I just said because you have to know if Miroku really kissed Sango? Well not to worry, I won't be offended if you did. Chiba Usagi and I want to thank you for your patience, computers can be so difficult sometimes. I have to go to my local library just to upload these. Gotta love the family computer and all the junk on it that keeps it from working properly.

Anyway, down to business. We do not own Inu-Yasha; we cannot claim rights to Miroku, Sango, Kagome, Kirara, Shippou, or Inu-Yasha. Nor do we own the Shikon no Tama. It and some of the other great wonders of the world all come from the mind and pen of one person: Rumiko Takahashi. Feel free to sue me, but keep in mind that when you do, you will most likely be acquiring my last two pennies that I rub together to start the fire that I use to cook my food and warm my cardboard box. 

Oh right! Thanks Usagi, for reminding me. I have to post a **WARNING **to all readers. The subject matter at the end of this chapter involves a bit of violence and adult situations and may not be suitable for younger readers, but it's still nothing to go R over. 

~ Second Interlude ~

Miroku was lost deep in thought, dazedly playing with Sango's hair until she gave out a slight whimper in her sleep. Having just regained conscious awareness of the world around him, he froze for a second to be sure that's what he really heard. When she whimpered again and made a kicking motion with her right leg, his heart sank. Was he too late? Just what had Sango gone through in the few days she was lost to him—er—them? 

Miroku dwelled on these dark thoughts—his mind concocting all sorts of scenarios—until Sango awoke. She winced in her sleep and a hand flew to her right knee. She slowly, partially opened her eyes, raised her head to look at her knee and then turned to take in what she had been using as a pillow. A sort of sleepy smile came to her face as she scooted up closer to Miroku—now placing her head and her hand on his chest—and whispered, "thank you," before falling asleep again. So as not to disturb her, Miroku mouthed the words, 'you're welcome,' and panged slightly when his jaw grazed the top of her head. Sango was already too asleep to notice, not like he hadn't been playing with her hair nonstop for the past hour. 

Miroku—now inches from her locks—pulled bits of straw from her hair and began to slowly take his fingers through it trying to comb it out for her. He distinctly thought, _'if only I had a comb then I would do this right.'_ Close enough to smell her hair he rested his chin on the top of her head wishing that it wouldn't be too awkward if he kissed her crown. Instead, Miroku settled for bringing his free hand up to hers. Too close to hold her hand he brushed his thumb across her forearm. So there they were: one sleeping; the other combing her hair, perverse thoughts farthest from his mind. 

~ Chapter 3: The Mask ~

Miroku shot up wide-awake, grabbed on to his staff, and pulled himself to his feet. When Kagome woke moments later, she saw him standing at the window.

"What's wrong?"

Miroku shook his head, "I could have sworn I just heard Sango scream."

"Maybe you did. After all, we are right next to the _mysterious alley_," Inu-Yasha butted in and then headed outside. 

"Ignore him." Kagome sighed turning her attention back to Miroku, "I'm sure it was just a dream."

**~**

"Calm down, girl. It was just a dream. You don't have to scream about it."

"Just a dream? That was… that was…" the other girl stuttered.

"What was it? A premonition or a glimpse into your heart?"

"What?" She shook her head, "Neither…. I hope." A shudder passed through her. She finally opened her eyes enough to take in her surroundings. She was still in a cave, but now she was on a straw bed in a well-lit chamber. "Where am I?"

"Despite what he says, you aren't the first to follow him in here. As far as I know, I was the first. Most girls who end up here dream of one of two things, either premonitions of future events or scenes of their hearts' deepest desires. This is the void—as we've termed it—a mystical realm between two worlds. My name is Mikomi."

"I'm Sango. So how do I get out of here?"

"Oh, I'm afraid you can't. At least not on your own."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well in the past only two other girls have made it out of here. One died and then returned to her world—that was quite a mess—and the other left here as legend predicted."

"Legend?"

"Ah, yes, the legend. It's a sad depressing tale that we do not speak about."

"Why not?"

"Because it's nearly impossible for the circumstances to happen to a girl when she's out in the light, free world, let alone stuck here in the dark separated from all of humanity." Then Mikomi kind of smiled to herself as if she'd just said something funny. "Well except for the rest of us that is."

"The rest? Where are they?"

"Oh they live in these caves," she said offhandedly as if it was totally obvious.

"Okay who are they? How did they get here?"

"Well most of them are young women like us who followed him here. Then there are the men who came to rescue them and got stuck as well. They're not the happiest people in the world."

"Why?" Sango cut her off before she could answer more.

"Because, dear they're stuck here."

"But how did _they_ get in here?"

Mikomi thought a moment, "I'm not really sure."

Sango rolled her eyes—_I'm not going to get anything useful out of her_—and brushed her hands against her head. 

"I took the liberty of bandaging your head. You really should be more careful when walking the pointy maze."

"H-hai," Sango nodded at the girl as if she were a complete idiot. Brushing a strand of her hair out of her face, she remembered her dream and wondered if her hair was really that disheveled. Then thinking about her dream, her hands came to her lips, which she thought felt unusually warm. Sango allowed herself a brief inward smile before she shook her head to clear those thoughts and all like them from her consciousness. _'How am I ever going to get out of here?'_ she thought sinking back against a stone.

"Are you thinking about him?" Mikomi smiled.

"Who?" Sango sat up looking at her as confused as ever.

"The man of your dreams, of course."

"The who of my what?" Sango blinked. She let out a little laugh, "You don't seem to understand. I am not some little, prissy girl who needs to dream about the ideal man. I've done just fine on my own up 'til now and I'd like to keep it that way. And nothing you say is going to make the least bit of difference in that department." Sango got to her feet and began to walk away.

"Oh, if that's so, then why dream about him?" Mikomi said in a know-all manner as Sango walked away.

"I guess I hit my head harder than I thought," and with those words Sango left the room completely.

"Hm," Mikomi said with a sour look on her face, rose to her feet and headed into another room, where the tall, dark man Sango had followed stood awaiting her report. "She's obstinate and unbelieving. She's searching for something. I couldn't tell what, but I don't think it was the man she followed in here." Mikomi stressed these last words by running a finger along the man's chest.

The man had a pensive look etched into his face. "I wonder…" he said his golden eyes twinkling in the darkness.

**~**

"That old woman knew something. I'm going to search until I find her."

"You may be out here for hours."

"If we're lucky he'll be out here forever."

Kagome glared at Inu-Yasha. "You're not helping?"

"Am I supposed to be?"

"Inu-Yasha," Kagome groaned, "we're not leaving this village until we find Sango."

"Feh." Inu-Yasha stormed off. He stopped for a second turned back and said, "The baa-baa said that you have to find this one guy, and something about waking a sleeping dragon?" He said the last part off handedly as if he didn't understand its purpose. 

"A sleeping dragon?" Kagome questioned him.

"Or… troll perhaps."

"Inu-Yasha, what did the woman say exactly?" Miroku asked looking rather peeved. 

"Uh…it's important to know that you must wake this sleeping creature with a kiss."

Miroku looked at him puzzled.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Inu-Yasha shrugged.

They both turned to look at Kagome.

"Could the word have been beauty? As in a sleeping beauty," Kagome asked.

Inu-Yasha paused a moment, his ears twitched a little, and then he said, "Yeah."

"A sleeping what?" Shippou asked hopping onto Kagome's shoulder.

"It's a fairy tale everyone knows in my time about a beautiful princess locked away, and she remained in a timeless sleep for a hundred years until a prince came and woke her with love's first kiss."

Miroku and Inu-Yasha looked at each other and then Shippou expressed the very thoughts that were going through their heads. "Why would the baa-baa tell us something like that? We're not looking for a princess."

Kagome sighed, "I don't think she meant _the_ sleeping beauty. I think she was referring to Sango."

"Feh. Why would Sango be sleeping?" Inu-Yasha asked.

Miroku looked thunderstruck, "Is she trying to get me killed? Couldn't I just shake the sleeping princess awake, or dump water on her, or something that would result in only a severe beating?"

Kagome laughed, "I guess that all depends on the situation when we get there. If she's even sleeping and then she'd have to be under a pretty strong magical curse for that to be the only way to wake her."

But no matter how hard Kagome tried, everything she said just made the three males with her more and more confused. 

**~**

_'It has to be around here somewhere,'_ Sango thought as she slowly made her way through the cave system. As she walked along, she would hit pockets of darkness one minute and bright campfires set off to the side the next. At one of these campfires, she met a group of people. 

"Kon'nichi wa!" a girl screamed. Sango thought she couldn't be more than thirteen. 

"Oh, hello," Sango replied sheepishly turning to greet everyone.

"New here?" a tall man asked.

"Hai," Sango nodded.

"Yeah, we stumbled upon this place about…oh what was it," he said looking at the scrawny woman next to him, "six years ago, and we haven't been able to find a way out since." The woman nodded and hugged him tightly around the waist as he continued. "So how did you come by this place?"

Sango looked at them a little bewildered, "I followed a man with a mask. What do you mean you stumbled upon it? How do you know how long you've been here?"

The woman began to speak in a small voice, "Time may not pass here as it does in the other world but we are always aware of how much time has passed without us. We don't really know how; we just do." The woman smiled gingerly, "as for how we stumbled upon this place. We were spelunkers in our other life. We spent much of our free time in caves, and on one of our trips we passed through a one-sided waterfall and couldn't return."

"We suspect there are many passages like it, and for the first three years or so all we did was search for them, isn't that right dad?" the girl said perkily. 

"Yep," the man nodded smiling at his daughter. The conversation continued for a while longer and Sango asked them if they'd seen the man or the mask. "A mask you say?"

"Yes, I'm trying to find it."

The family looked at each other and they all shook their heads, "Sorry, my dear, we have been all over these caves and we haven't seen anything like what you described."

"And no one's been this way all week, 'cept for you." The little girl added. 

"That's okay. Thank you very much," Sango bowed a little and left.

"Such a nice girl, tragic her being all alone." The man said to his family as Sango disappeared into the darkness.

**~**

Night fell, it had already been two days since Sango disappeared, and the rest of the Shikon-gumi had done everything they could think of to find her. Kirara would leave for hours at a time and return briefly only to paw Miroku's robes and leave again. Shippou and Kagome had asked everyone in the nearby shops if they'd seen anything. Inu-Yasha sat on a few rooftops and kept an eye on the alley while passively looking for Sango or the man that could have taken her, not that anyone knew what he looked like. Inu-Yasha had a feeling he wasn't human, and as long as he only smelled humans and his companions below, he stayed on the roof. Miroku searched for the old woman, with no luck of finding her, and performed cleansing rituals for a few households to get what little information they could tell him. Stories of daughters disappearing and runaway pets were all he ever got from any of them. 

When morning came, Miroku could be found sitting on a rock alone at the edge of the woods. He was actually trying to use his monk training to focus his mind on something that might lead him to her. _'Sango where are you?'_

**~**

Sango awoke abruptly from another odd dream. Thinking she had heard someone call her, she sat up looking around. No one, not even a rat, could be found around her. Sango sank back into the dark corner she had been sleeping in, recalling her rather happy dream. She had dreamed of the future, not the actual future but still clearly the future. She was grown up and had two young children with her. One of them, a boy, called her mom. Sango remembered that the other was her niece; she was visiting her brother and his wife. Even her father was there. Sango sighed, her father had just told her that her husband was walking up the front walk when something awoke her from her dream. Not that any of it could ever happen; all of her family had been killed shortly before she met her new companions. Sango got lost in these thoughts, only to be shocked awake when a trio of men had rounded her corner with a torch. 

"Well, well what do we have here?" the biggest said.

"Looks like a new girl," said the skinny man holding the torch with a sneer.

The man in the middle gave them each a look and then took a step toward Sango, "Hey, you shouldn't be sleeping along this stretch of cave." He smiled reaching out a hand to help her up, "these caves are known for their crime rate. It's sad really, we're all stuck down here awaiting the same fate, and yet some people still feel the need to attack others." 

Sango eyed them all cautiously and took the hand up. As the nice man's hand clasped around her wrist, he yanked her towards him. Sango had expected as much and threw her whole body against him knocking him to the ground. She took off running down the corridor; looking back briefly, she saw that there were now five men on her trail. Her dress wasn't making her escape any easier. She could barely run in her kimono. One of the larger men caught up to her and grabbed her from behind. To his surprise, he landed hard against a wall. Looking back he began to realize that this was no ordinary girl, not only could she fling him over her shoulder but she could do it wearing a kimono and wooden sandals. 

Sango took to running again before he'd even hit the wall. Her sandal had cracked slightly under the pressure she used to grip the floor when throwing him. So it was no surprise when it broke apart as she turned a corner. Sango skidded into a wall, swearing slightly under her breath she kicked her shoes off and continued running. Looking down she noticed that she had torn the left sleeve of her kimono and her arm was now bleeding. Ignoring the pain, she loosened the bottom of her kimono so she could run faster.

Losing her shoes worked to her advantage; as the men rounded the corner, one of them tripped on her discarded footwear and knocked all but one of them over. The torch went flying and became extinguished in a puddle of water. Sango clamored over a large rock scrapping her right knee in the process; the single man was still hot on her trail. 

The man came to a sudden halt as he entered a sparkling cavern. Sango stood frozen just meters a head of him, her jaw slackened and eyes wide as she took in the sight. The entire cavern was covered from ground to ceiling in ornate masks. A soft blue light emitted from some unseen source lit the entire cave and reflected off the jewels on the masks making them sparkle. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: I know I'm a mean, horrible person to stop at a place like this. We all want to know what happens, what do all the masks mean, where did the cave come from, will Miroku ever find her and if so will they be able to leave? Bwahahaha… I'm not telling, this is the end of the story….bwahahahahahahaha… just kidding, it's only the end of the third Chapter. Tune in next _week_ for the exciting fourth Chapter and possible real conclusion. 

As always review if you like it, for that matter review if you don't. If you think I'm an absolute nut, tell me so. 


	4. The Cave

Author's Notes: 

Wow! It's been a while since I've visited this story on my computer. Gomen, Gomen to all of you faithful readers and reviewers. 

I first must thank Queen for correcting a few of my naming mistakes. She knows what they were, and I know what they were, but for those of you who didn't realize I made a mistake… I'm not going to tell you what they were J . 

I also must thank Miss Usagi as always for reading what I write BEFORE I post it, and for allowing me to bounce ideas off of her. 

Each of my complex stories contains a brilliant battle sequence. That would be within this chapter which has made it substantially longer than the others. I have to post this **WARNING **before I allow anyone to continue. If you have a heart condition, are pregnant, get sick at the faintest sight of blood, have headaches or seizures caused by strobe lights, or are just plain squeamish do not ride this ride! … Er… I mean… **This chapter contains violence and swearing that may not be suited for younger readers.** I tried not to make it too gory, I promise. 

Rumiko Takahashi owns Inu-Yasha and all the wonderful characters that go with it. I own this story and the cave. Yeah, I'll claim ownership to "the void." That's about all I own so if you sue me I'll trap you in there and I won't let you read the part that tells how to get out. ;-p Now onto the fourth installment of my first Inu-Yasha fanfiction.

~ Third Interlude ~

Sango stirred in her sleep. Finally awaking fully to reality, she snapped herself awake and sat with a jolt. She heard a soft thud behind her as she did so. She turned over her left shoulder to see Miroku sound asleep by her side.

_'Eeee… I was sleeping against that?' _Her heart jumped in her chest.

Quickly she swiveled her body around so that her back was to his feet and she was facing him. Still sitting rather close to his body her knees bushed against his fallen arm. Sango sighed as she watched him sleep. _'Miroku-sama is so cute when he sleeps like that… he looks like a little boy,'_ she smiled thinking to herself. _'Iie, what am I thinking! Houshi-sama is nothing but a lecher there's no way my future could include someone like him. I mean just look at him even in his sleep his hands are…'_ she looked down at his left hand resting gently on his chest and his right just out of reach of her wounded knee. "…not touching me at all?" she said out loud in quieting amazement. "Sometimes you really amaze me, Houshi-sama," she whispered taking a chance and brushing his bangs out of his eyes. 

Miroku inhaled sharply awaking abruptly to her touch. He looked up and saw a hand above his head. It slowly became clearer as the fuzziness of sleep drifted from his vision. Following the hand back to its owner, he sat up with a partially worried look on his face. "Sango-san, daijoubu ka?" 

She smiled a contented smile and nodded lightly once, "Hai, daijoubu."

A wave of relief spread across his face and he nodded, getting to his feet. "Ahem. Well then we best find away out of this cave."

Sango nodded and clambered to get to her feet but stopped shortly as she winced in pain. Her hand gripped her right knee for support. She tried not to let on that she was in any pain at all and slowly forced her leg out straight. Looking through the tear in her kimono she noticed that her knee had been bandaged with deep blue cloth. 

~ Chapter 4: The Cave ~

Sango climbed over the rocks and into an untraveled section of cave. She could hear that a man was still behind her. As she rounded a corner she was stunned by such a beautiful sight. 

Masks. Varying in shape, size and color, nearly 200 masks clung to the cavern walls around her. Basking in a pale blue light, they all sparkled. In the moment she was paused, the man caught up to her. The sound of his arrival snapped her out of her trance.

"You've run out of places to go, bitch." The tall burly man snarled as he entered the cavern. He was only around six feet tall the entire time he was chasing her through the cave tunnels, but now it seemed as if he were growing. 

Sango had quickly rushed to the wall. The masks lined the walls starting at about ten feet from the floor and up. Despite the fact that they shown in brilliant blue light, the area beneath them was still as dark as an unlit cave. Sango quietly crept around the edge of the cavern, trying to assess her situation and her surroundings. Then it happened. 

Her hand brushed along something that wasn't rock. She turned to see what it was and found herself looking at a rack of various weapons. She carefully removed one from the wall. It was a long lightweight spear but when she held it she noticed that the tip was made from the scapula of a rather large youkai. _'A youkai weapon?_' she thought. She turned to see that he was adjusting to the darkness and could see her rather well. Taking the offense she stepped away from the wall, glared at her opponent, and said, "Koi…" and then she felt it and her tone hardened, "…youkai." 

Almost as soon as she said this he snarled and he transformed. Pig snout and giant, thin ears formed on his head. He instantly became covered in thick, black fur and then he did something. He disappeared before her eyes, only she knew he wasn't gone because she could still see his red eyes glaring at her. It would be hard to follow him in the dark, but Sango was a professional. She locked on to his glowing red eyes and listened to his footfalls. _'Now,'_ she thought and then took a running leap using the spear as a pole vault she propelled herself over a large rock and her feet crashed into his chest. 

"Yosh!" she said to herself as she lifted the spear to take off his head. 

"I don't think so, bitch." He said as he reached his arm out and dug his claws into her left leg. The youkai flung her up towards the high ceiling. Sango spun around just in time to see that she was about to be impaled on a stalactite. Placing the spear before her she smacked it into the side of the rock and flipped out of harm's way. When she landed, the youkai was waiting for her. Sango sliced at him with the point of her spear, tearing into his shoulder. He recoiled and instantly he knew that this weapon was dangerous. Swearing loudly, he grabbed her by the wrist and tore the spear from her arms with his other hand. He flung it upward and Sango watched as it imbedded itself in the high cave ceiling. He then lashed out and slashed her left shoulder with a sharp claw where his thumb had been. 

"Oi! Shiribachi, Ma said, 'bring her back alive,'" came a voice from the entranceway. 

The beast holding her flung her hard against the side of the cavern. "That whore ain't my mother and you'd do well to remember that!" he spat back. 

Sango watched as the two apparently half-siblings bickered. She had learned not to get involved with Inu-Yasha's brotherly disputes but this time was quite different. She didn't really care if either of them survived. Standing quietly she looked at the rack of weapons conveniently next to her and chose a pair of large, black boomerang shaped weapons off the wall. Carved from what looked like tail spikes of a large dragon, she held the weapons in her hand, knowing exactly how to throw them. She let one fly and waited a brief but calculated moment before releasing the second. 

The sharp, black object soared through the air towards Shiribachi, whose back was to her, and his brother, who was now just feet away from him. The brother suddenly stopped as something thick and warm spurted out from his brother's neck, hitting the shorter brother in the face. He blinked once then twice, "blood?" he said just before his brother's now silent form lost its head. The 'rang shot back towards him. Ducking he watched as it severed through Shiribachi's chest before he could drop to the ground. Standing back up looking at his brother's deceased form he noticed a moment too late another heading straight for his head. In a moment, both brothers were dead and Sango—not stupid enough to try and catch these deadly weapons—had moved to the side watching them crash into the cave wall. 

**~**

Kagome sighed. No one seemed to have the answers they were looking for. She walked out of the last shop in the city only be greeted by Inu-Yasha landing directly in her path. 

"Find anything?"

"No," she sighed. "What about you guys?" she asked as Shippou now joined them.

"Uh-uh," the chibi-kitsune shook his head. "And I lost Miroku somewhere."

Kagome looked to Inu-Yasha. He sighed and took a few quick sniffs of the air and led them in Miroku's direction. 

Miroku was still sitting on a rock, legs crossed, some might think he was deep in thought or in a trance-like state, but Kirara knew better. The houshi was sleeping. She pawed at his robes for the twentieth time in the past few days, but this time when she didn't get a response from him she quietly sat back and looked up at him with a curious face. Kirara sighed and then transformed into her large youkai form. She pawed at him one more time before pouncing on him knocking him off the rock. 

"Wha—Whoa!" he said as his head hit the ground and his eyes opened to find an irritated cat-demon baring down on him. Kirara didn't wait for anything she picked him up by the collar with her mouth flung him into the air and as soon as he had landed on her back took off again. "I guess you wanted me to follow you," Miroku said clinging to the sprinting youkai's back. 

Kirara headed off, running right by Inu-Yasha, Kagome and Shippou. Shippou grabbed a hold of one of Kirara's tails when she flew past them. Instantly Inu-Yasha scooped Kagome up and headed after them. 

Running all out, Kirara easily left Inu-Yasha, who didn't seem to be worried about falling from her sight, behind her. She headed straight for a mountainous area. Running through various crevices and jumping over huge chasms Kirara stopped just before a cave. Miroku slid off her back and Shippou dropped from her tail. 

"You want me to go in there? Is Sango in there?" Miroku asked looking back at Kirara. She nudged him towards the entrance and he nodded heading towards the cave. 

Shippou called out, "Go in where?"

Miroku stopped shortly, "Don't you see it?"

"See what?" Shippou looked bewildered.

"The cave."

"Inu-Yasha, we're loosing them!" Kagome called out.

"We are not. I can still smell exactly where they went," he replied stubbornly.

"Mou, I know you can run faster than this."

"Relax, will ya they're just around this rock." He turned to prove it to her and stopped shortly. No one was there and neither were their scents. 

"What? Why did you stop?"

"They're gone."

"What?"

"They were here but they're not now."

"Can't you smell which way they went?"

"No, I mean this is where they stopped. They vanished."

They walked through the cave that Shippou had reluctantly followed Kirara and Miroku into after he watched them walk through what looked like solid stone to him. After a few minutes and about ten small curves of the cave they came to a widening. There were three tunnels to choose from. 

"Should we split up?" Miroku asked.

"Wah! I'm not going down one of these alone!" Shippou whined. 

"Okay you go with Kirara and I'll go alone."

Kirara nodded and shrunk back to her smaller self before scampering down the left-hand tunnel. Shippou followed. That left the center and the far right for Miroku to choose between. He stood evenly spaced between them and held his staff at arm's length.

__

'Buddha please lead me in the right direction.'

The staff fell pointing left (or to the center system). Miroku bent down to pick it up when a sensation shot through him. He looked long and hard in the direction the staff indicated and then remembered the old woman's words, _'Perhaps you do not know what you seek, or maybe you are just too stupid to listen to your heart.' _"I am not too stupid," he said out loud clenching his fist before heading down the far right path instead. 

**~**

Sango slowly crept over to the two limp bodies recognizing them as the tall man who had first approached her and the man she had flung into a wall. She sighed and was about to head back when something grabbed her from behind. 

She looked down at the thin leathery arms. They looked almost as if there were three bone-thick arms connected by thin, flat sections of skin were folded up together. 

"Happa!" he screamed at her. "You killed Happa! My baby brother, how dare you! I, Rasuma, shall have revenge for my brother!" 

Sango gritted her teeth, his voice pounding in her ears was shrill and echoed off of the walls. When he stopped screaming, she kicked her feet back into him. As he doubled over, she flung him over her shoulders into a large boulder and ran to the opposite side of the cavern where another, identical rack of weapons was hanging. _'Is this some kind of tournament place?' _she thought removing a pair of kama, wooden handles with blades made from the spine ridges of a small youkai protruding from a side.

He watched her as he got to his feet and then charged at her with his arms arced above his head. "SUKE!!!!!!"

Sango ran towards him and dropped quickly sliding beneath him hooking the kamas into his shoulders she dragged them down the length of his body as he flew over her. Rasuma didn't seem to notice that he was bleeding and the pain of the attack wasn't registering in his mind either. Sango threw one of the kamas and it was imbedded in his chest but he kept barreling down at her. _'What the--? What is this guy?'_

Sango backed up a little as he bounded towards her gushing blood and still going on strong. Rasuma swung at her and she fell backward to avoid him and all his thin arms. Rasuma grabbed her by her ankle and lifted her into the air. Sango's kimono began to slide up beyond her knees. "HENTAI!!!!" She screamed and lashed out at him with her remaining kama. The pain of her shrieking hurt his rather large ears. He flattened them to his head as she sliced forward with the kama. It split right through his head while he was distracted and at first she thought that it had no effect. After a few seconds he started to waver and eventually crashed down on top of her. "Yuck," she said as she pushed him off of her. Before she could completely free herself, the remaining pair of youkai entered the cavern. 

"Nisai, look at this," the shorter of the two said leaning down to look at his fallen brothers. 

"Ch—Even Shiribachi," he snarled. "Where is that wench hiding?"

"I don't know Aniki-sama," the other said cringing in fear at his response.

"Well Kikai-chan, you better find her or I'll be rougher than usual."

Kikai nodded and began to peer into the darkness.

Sango was only about fifteen feet to their left and nearly twenty feet from the wall. She still had a pretty good grip on one of the kamas but the other was buried beneath Rasuma. She knew she would need more, if not better, weapons to take on two at once. Especially two who currently looked human, meaning they were more likely taiyoukai. The skinny tall one called Nisai had been holding the torch earlier, and the other was the one who pretended to be kind to get her to take his hand. She quietly touched the ground behind her and picked up a small rock. They were looking away and she threw it in the opposite direction of where she was. 

When it hit, the "nice" one had turned in the direction of the noise. BUT Nisai had turned in her direction as soon as she had released the rock into the air. _'Uh-oh,'_ Sango thought scrambling to her feet kama in her hand. 

Nisai smirked and charged for her. Sango didn't really want to deal with hand to hand combat at the moment so she threw the kama at him and ran full out towards the wall. Nisai leapt in the air avoiding the kama and let out a piercing cry as he transformed into his true youkai form. Landing on a large rock he crouched down in a ball. When he lifted his head to gaze upon his prey with his blood colored eyes, Sango noticed that his body was now shorter and completely furcovered. His legs were short but had massive claws attached to them. His arms were similar to Rasuma's only he had them extended drapping over the rock he was on. 

__

'Wings? Bat wings!' Sango thought as she watched him lift his head from beneath them. His head was that of a giant vampire bat only his incisors extended beyond his mouth like sabers. Sango didn't even have a chance to reach the wall as he leapt forward smashing the rack—the weapons went flying into the air—and picking her up by digging his clawed feet into her shoulder. "WAH!" Sango screamed as her feet left the ground. She kicked out trying to catch one of the battered weapons as they fell to the ground. She successfully caught a bo with her bare feet and her hands moved from gripping his feet to meeting hers to take the stick in her hand. 

Nisai's intent was to drop her from the top of the cavern. As they flew between stalactites Sango saw her chance. She stuck out the bo and as he flew between two parallel stalactites it shredded the ends. He looked down at her to see what had slowed his flight, and she stabbed him in the neck with the now pointed wood. He winced slightly as this caused him to smack into an oncoming stalactite. Sango grabbed hold of the stalactite as he dropped her quite fed up with her. Nisai dove and circled around to come get her with his teeth. Sango looked around her and then she saw it. Only five feet away, the spear Shiribachi had imbedded in the cavern ceiling hung. Sango timed his ascent perfectly and then flinging herself away from the stalactite, she grabbed the spear and he swerved to meet her. Pulling the spear from the rock, she backflipped, avoiding his bite but shoving the spear through his head and down into his chest. Nisai sputtered blood as he fell to the ground. Sango landed on top of him, thankfully. Pulling herself up, she held on to the spear and ripped it from his dying form. "One more to go," she breathed darkly turning to face him. 

The remaining being stared in shock at the body lying on the ground. "You… You killed him," he said with an odd sort of tone to his voice. He dropped to his knees just feet before her and whispered, "Thank you."

Sango smirked. She wasn't going to fall for this kindness act again. She slowly walked forward with the spear raised before her. Kikai remained bowed down and just before Sango plunged the spear into the back of his neck she stopped, "ningen?" she whispered under her breath. 

Kikai looked up, "even so I can't disappoint mother," and with these words he took two large rocks and smashed her right knee between them. 

Sango screamed as pain shot through her entire body. He had just crushed her knee and the bones in it. Sango fell to the ground and Kikai approached her grinning seedily. She pushed herself back as best as she could but wasn't getting very far. He was above her now and then something shot out across his face. 

__

'Blue light?' Sango thought as he stopped frozen in front of her. "Where…" she said looking around.

**~**

"Oi Kagome! Over here I think I foun… Feh. Nevermind it's just a wild fox."

Kagome slumped against a rock. "We're never going to find them are we?"

"Feh. They couldn't have gone too far…" he said sniffing the ground and heading for the side of the mountain. Right in front of him was the cave that only Miroku—and probably Kirara—could see. As he sniffed the ground he inched closer and closer to the rock. 

"Inu-Yasha, look!" Kagome said pointing to a cave up the side of another rock formation, "what if Kirara flew them up there?"

"Heh," Inu-Yasha smirked, "Hidin' from me?" He stood and picked up Kagome before jumping up the side of the opposite mountain from where they had disappeared. 

**~**

Miroku's search wasn't going much better than theirs was, or so he thought. Almost as soon as he entered the far right tunnel, he was plunged into utter darkness. He didn't have anything to follow and he didn't have a light. _'Where's Kagome and her metal torch now?'_ he thought as he slowly crept along using his staff like a blind person would a cane. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. THUD! Despite his efforts Miroku had run into something large and hard. He shook his head and reached out into the darkness directly in front of him. "A stalactite?" he said sweeping his staff under it, hence the reason he didn't "see" it coming. Holding his staff parallel to the cave floor at chest height he made his way through the maze hitting each one before going around it. When he got to the end of the maze, he could see a small flicker of light off to the right side of the tunnel. 

It was a torch. 

In the center of the open cavern he saw a beautiful woman sitting on a bed of straw. She had long black hair, wore a simple blue kimono and she sat with her feet under her, casually winding strips of white material into a roll. "Come in. Come in," she said without lifting her eyes from her work.

"How'd you…?"

"Know you were there?" she said while smiling darkly. "I am the original occupant of this mystical void, I know all and see all that happens with in it. My name is Mikomi."

"The original occupant. You must be very old."

"Quite. Not that it matters so long as I'm within this void. No time moves in here, and yet…" she trailed off.

"Time is running out for you," said a dark voice from behind Miroku.

He turned quickly and just in time to get his weapon between him and the tall man who wielded a sword down upon him. Miroku jumped back and Mikomi reached out and grabbed his legs. "You will not be permitted to go to her," she sneered, releasing the wrappings in her hands. They came to life and began twining their way up his legs binding them together. "Kin-sama, what shall we do with him?"

"You leave that to me." The man lunged forward to take Miroku's head off but Miroku parried, though nearly loosing his balance, and knocked the sword out of Kin's hands. Miroku dove for the sword and Kin began laughing. It started out low and soft and grew into a maniacal cackle. "Do you really think I need that piece of metal to defeat something as insignificant as a human?" He began walking towards Miroku.

Mikomi gritted her teeth at his words. 

Miroku, meanwhile, had reached the sword and began to slice through his bindings. He stood to take on Kin as he approached. Just feet before the two men met, Kin was tackled to the ground from the side. "Insignificant my ass! I gave the best years of my life to you and this is all you think of me and my kind?" 

Kin stood and threw her against a pillar of rock. "Keh. Those were the best years of your life? I've given you immortality and all you do is whine!" 

"I've given you two sons!"

"Yes, two worthless hanyous, creatures that age recklessly even in my little parallel dimension. I let your whelp live didn't I?"

Miroku watched in amazement as the taiyoukai and the human woman argued as if their marriage had just crumbled before his eyes. _'Weird,'_ he thought relaxing his stance as he began to inch away towards the tunnel leading out of the cavern. 

"Keh. You didn't think I'd let you get away so easily did you?" Kin growled as he lashed out and knocked the sword from Miroku's laxed grip. He reached forward with his hand and grabbed Miroku around the neck lifting him into the air. Miroku stared down into his golden eyes and then let his eyes dart towards the tunnel he was certain Sango had gone down. "Don't fret about your little whore. My boys will kill her and desecrate her body—or possibly the other way around—but either way you'll soon be joining her." On these words, Miroku's eyes narrowed and fighting as dirty as he knew how, he kicked with full force, placing his well-traveled feet into the groin of this overconfident youkai. Kin's golden eyes went wide and flickered red for a moment before he dropped Miroku and sank to the ground. Miroku took the top end of his staff and smacked Kin over the head a few times before taking off at full speed down the corridor. 

**~**

The blue light faded from her eyes but still Kikai stood paralyzed before her. "You truly are a noble human, aren't you taiji-ya?"

"You! You're the one I followed here, aren't you?"

"That I am," the warm voice of a tall man drifted down to her. "I'm afraid my nephews are a bit overzealous and stupid when it comes to their mother's wishes," he said stepping between her and Kikai. Snapping his fingers Kikai awakened. "Go. Tell your mother you failed and that all of my brother's children have been slain by one small girl."

Kikai looked at the man before him and stared in horror. "Oji? I thought you were dead?"

"I am," the man said before turning away and helping Sango to her feet. Trembling, Kikai left the room in a hurry. 

"Who? Who are you?" Sango asked, allowing him to help her up. She had to lean on him to keep herself from crashing back to the ground. 

"My name is Gin and this is my home." He gestured to the cavern around him. "You are truly the first woman to follow me here." 

"That's not what Mikomi said," Sango interjected, pushing herself upright.

"Ah…Mikomi. I'm not sure if that woman could tell the truth if she tried. Either way, I'm sure she was referring to my brother Kin and his exploits. Luring young maidens here and letting his sons terrorize them seems to give him great pleasure."

"So why am I here?"

"Well…" Gin said looking at the carnage behind him, "if for no other reason then to save the lives of hundreds of other innocent girls."

Sango sighed, that was not the answer she was hoping to hear.

Fortunately Gin continued. "You are here because of this…" he said waving his hand and a mask floated gently from the wall. "This mask belonged to Kameko, the woman I loved. Every week, I walk into the shop her family owns and buy the same mask. It is said that the one who can see me and the mask is the one who can break the curse."

"Curse?"

Gin didn't answer her question. Instead, he turned away allowing her to stand on her own. "Each of these masks holds a special gift. This series was Kameko's favorite," he gestured at the mask and seven more like it on the wall each varying only in color of six stones that made up the eyebrows of the mask. "They are future telling masks. When you look into all eight and see the same future then you know that that is your fate. Of course it's not always a good thing to know that your fate is sealed." He smiled. "When I look into these, seven of them show me the same lonely future of me and these masks, but one—this one in fact—shows me something different. A hopeful future with the woman I love."

"If each of these masks shows the future then why wouldn't they all be the same all the time?"

"They each show a possible future, and usually a different future based on the mask. The red one for example will show the user the future that they are most passionate about. The dark blue one shows the future that your heart is most willing to accept at that moment. The pale blue the future your brain is most willing to accept, the black the future that will bring you the most pain, the yellow the one that'll bring you the most joy, the green the most impossible future, the purple the most likely and then the pink. Kameko always said that the pink masked showed the most honest future."

"Does that mean that this future is the one that will come true?"

"No." He smiled, "None of these masks can truly predict what the course of your life will be. Because the path of your life changes everyday, but if you were to strictly stay to the path you are currently on, these would be your possible futures. It's when all the possible futures are the same that you realize your path is unchanging which in the past has meant one of two things."

"You're cursed for eternity or you're going to die," Sango said.

"Exactly." Gin smiled. "Would you like to see what the mask you followed here has to tell you?"

Sango paused for a moment considering. He didn't attempt to sway her one way or another; he just offered the mask up for her to decide. Trusting this kind-hearted youkai, she nodded. 

"All you need to do is look into the eyes of the mask when the crystals begin to glow don't look away for they will project your future into your mind's eye."

Sango nodded in understanding and Gin held the mask out for her to look into. In a matter of seconds, pink light streamed out from the mask and into Sango's eyes. Any unsteadiness she'd been feeling vanished as the vision flooded her mind. Gin then released the mask and it remained floating in the air about four to five feet away from her. He then walked away, feeling that using the masks is a personal issue and very private. 

**~**

Miroku rounded a corner, passing a family sitting around a barrel of fire. The girl stood up to call out to him and then she stopped and smiled, "See father it's not so bad. She's not truly alone." A short while later, another man passed the fire coming from the opposite direction and the girl stopped him convincing him to stay with her and her parents for a while. 

Passing through a dark section of cave, Miroku came to a dead end. _'K'so!'_ he thought before turning to go back. Just then a draft of wind blew on him from the left side of the cave and he felt his way along the edge to find that the tunnel didn't end, it curved. As he walked along, he kicked something on the ground. He bent down to pick it up. In his hand he held a geta with a broken front spoke. Its mate was also at his feet. Picking them up he continued down the path. 

**~**

Shippou and Kirara bounded along down their chosen path until they reached the end. Passing through a golden mist, they came upon a young woman sitting on the floor. Her dark hair was done up in two identical buns lined with golden cords. She wore a beautiful red bridal kimono and the remnants of her white face paint were smeared on the edges of her sleeves. 

"I've been waiting for you to return, kitty." She smiled genuinely. 

Shippou stepped forward, "Her name is Kirara."

"I'm Kameko, and you are?"

**~**

It was a beautiful sunny day. Sango sat on the top of a hill with a checkered blanket beneath her. There were three baskets of food in the center of the blanket and two young boys sat on either side of her. One appeared to be five or six and the other three. The youngest was curled up beside her with his head in her lap and Sango found herself telling a story to these two boys.

"Deep in the darkness, the young princess found a kind family. A girl and her parents, they welcomed the hime and told her the tale of their journey to that place."

"Is this the same girl that falls in love with the evil woman's son?" the older boy asked.

Sango stopped and looked at him, "You know this story too well Juro perhaps you should tell it."

"Nah. I like it better when you do, okaa-san."

"Alright well then stop interrupting me," Sango reached down and tickled her son, smiling at him.

"Okay, okay. I won't interrupt."

"Then what happened, mama?" the younger boy looked up at her.

"Well, the young princess thanked the nice family and went on her way exploring the cave. She came upon a wonderful cavern that had been hidden from view for many years. Inside the cavern was a kind old youkai and a myriad of masks."

"What's myriad?" the young boy asked.

"Urg, you ask that every time she tells the story. A lot, Tabito it means a whole lot."

"Oh," he said, looking at his brother. "Like the stars right?" he turned his attention back to him mom. 

"Right like the stars," Sango said pressing a finger to his nose, "well then…" 

"Ah! Inu-Yasha give that back!" Kagome screamed in the distance.

Sango sighed and smiled as she lost her sons' attention. "Why don't you go see what Inu-Yasha and Kagome are up to now?" she said giving them permission to get up and run after the sound. Sango stood watching them go. 

Over the hill she could see Inu-Yasha running with a round plastic disk in his mouth. Kagome was chasing after him yelling at him to give it back. "You're supposed to throw the Frisbee back once you catch it!" she called out. "Heel! Stay! Inu-Yasha don't make me say it!"

Sango laughed and watched as her sons began to help Kagome in the chase. A pair of smooth hands covered her eyes and she smiled upon hearing a voice behind her say, "You shouldn't watch such foul scenes."

"Why, you think they might give me ideas?" she laughed, pulling the hands away from her face and leaning back into the person. 

"Doesn't she know by now that she'll never completely remove the dog from him?" 

"Miroku, don't say such things. After all, I got the lecher out of you," she smiled turning around to face him.

"Oh?" he said casually moving his hand to her rear while pulling her closer.

"Mmhm…" she smiled leaning into kiss him, "because that doesn't count when you're holding your wife in a loving embrace."

Moving his hand back up to the small of her back he returned her kiss.

"Sango. Sango," Miroku said rushing to her side.

"You'll never wake her that way," a voice called out from the shadows.

Miroku spun around, "YOU!"

"Have we met?" Gin stepped forward.

Miroku looked at him. His silver eyes twinkled in the blue light. "I…I guess not."

"Sometimes those visions last for hours and I'm not certain you have hours to waste here," the youkai told him before disappearing into the shadows again.

Miroku nodded turning back to Sango. "Sango," he called out shaking her, "Sango, wake up."

She didn't move. She didn't respond. Sango continued to stare into the mask a smile forming on her face. 

"Sango!" Miroku said shaking her a little more harshly. He moved to stand in front of her and a thought rang through his head, _'the only way to wake the sleeping beauty was…' _Miroku gulped and taking a deep breath he leaned in, "Just don't hit me, okay?" he whispered.

Sango's eyes fluttered open, "Miroku," she said smiling. 

The sound of his name on her lips caused him to freeze and look at her oddly. 

Sango on the other hand was leaning in ever so slightly to resume where her vision had left off. Miroku didn't know what to do so he didn't move but shut his eyes, preparing for her to kiss him. Sango leaned in her lips just inches, no centimeters, from his and…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: I truly am evil, I know. Don't worry I won't make you wait too much longer to see how it all turns out, I promise.


	5. The Legend

Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Inu-Yasha, not me. 

I won't delay any longer:

~ Chapter 5: The Legend ~

"Sango!" Miroku said shaking her a little more harshly. He moved to stand in front of her and a thought rang through his head, _'the only way to wake the sleeping beauty was…' Miroku gulped and taking a deep breath he leaned in, "Just don't hit me, okay?" he whispered._

Sango's eyes fluttered open, "Miroku," she said smiling. 

The sound of his name on her lips caused him to freeze and look at her oddly. 

Sango on the other hand was leaning in ever so slightly to resume where her vision had left off. Miroku didn't know what to do so he didn't move but shut his eyes, preparing for her to kiss him. Sango leaned in her lips just inches—no centimeters—from his and as she took a step closer to meet him her knees gave out beneath her and her head crashed into his chest. 

Miroku reached out and caught her before she fell to the ground. Cradling her in his arms he brought her down to the floor. "Sango? Daijoubu ka?"

Sango opened her eyes now fully aware of her surroundings. "Hai, daijoubu," she whispered letting out a sigh of relief upon realizing that he was real and she wasn't alone anymore. "Daijoubu…" she said as she buried her face in his chest and hugged him tightly. 

Miroku paused not knowing quite how to react or what all had happened to her. Eventually he let his arms embrace her as well, and he nodded thinking, _'Daijobu. You found her. She's alive. Everything's going to be all right. She's safe now.' After a minute or two had passed he pulled her away from him and tilted her head to meet his gaze. "You ready to get out of here?"_

"You know a way out?" she whispered not quite believing it. 

"Hai," Miroku nodded helping her to her feet. She teetered and he grabbed her arms to steady her.

"I'm okay. I can walk," she said steadying herself.

"Okay," he replied not wanting to argue letting go of her arms, but as soon as she took one step she teetered again almost falling, he reached out to catch her once again. Lifting her into his arms he carried her to the entrance where he'd left his staff against the wall.

"I'm fine, Houshi-sama… I said…I can…wa…lk," she said as she leaned into him and on the last word her head hit his shoulder and she was asleep. 

Thinking to himself, _'Houshi-sama. So we're back to that?' Not that he minded, it was, after all, the respectful thing to call him. _

**~**

"Kameko-sama, if you love him so much why don't you just go to him?" Shippou asked the woman. 

She smiled, "Because we are cursed," she said looking down at the fire-cat in her lap. Kirara mewed as Kameko scratched her head. "These caves are not normal caves. In fact, they are not really caves at all, but a growing void in the brothers' hearts. These caves are home to two brother youkai, Kin and Gin. Bat youkai can create a cave system parallel to the human world, and that is what these caves are." She let out a deep sigh.

"Why do they get to retreat to another dimension, when the rest of us have to put up with this one?" Shippou asked a bit peeved that bat youkai could do something like that. 

Kameko smiled, "It's not that easy. This isn't another dimension; it's actually inside the youkai."

"Inside of them!!! How did we get inside of them?"

"Yes, like I said this is a void in their hearts, and it's all my fault," Kameko said nearly breaking down into tears. 

"Huh? Wait, what?" Shippou said more confused than ever. 

**~**

            **"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!" a voice reverberated throughout the small mountain cove. "They couldn't have just disappeared!"**

            "We were right behind them, ne?" Kagome confirmed going over the day's events in her mind. "Kirara rounded the corner and then… poof… they were gone. Which means…"

            "They just disappeared?" Inu-Yasha offered exasperated beginning to pace along the entrance of yet another empty cave. "Kagome, it's not possible." 

            "Why not? Didn't Shippou say that Sango vanished into thin air?"

            "Thin air?" Inu-Yasha stopped pacing at her comment.

            "It's an expression, Inu-Yasha. A common phrase from my time…" before Kagome could finish her explanation Inu-Yasha had swept her off her feet and was bounding back down the side of the mountain. 

            "If the air were thin enough for them to pass right through then maybe this mountain is an illusion and that's why we couldn't see where they went."

            "But… but… how would Kirara know where to take them? I mean why can't we see where they went too?" Kagome interjected as she was bounced around during their decent. 

            "Feh." Inu-Yasha commented, though he was actually giving Kagome's question some thought. _Why couldn't they see it? Especially if Kirara could?_

**~**

            "So you see I betrayed him by agreeing to marry the mortal man my father had chosen for me, thus causing the void. As time passed this void grew larger and Kin moved in."

            "Did you marry the human man?" Shippou asked.

            "No. My family dressed me for my ceremony. It had been a week since I'd last seen Gin but I couldn't get the image of his wounded expression out of my mind. On the way to the shrine in my new husband's village—where the ceremony was to take place—I realized just how much I loved Gin and how much I could not comply to my family's wishes."

            "Then what happened?" Shippou asked as Kirara purred.

            "I leapt from the processional carriage and ran all the way back to this mountain. I was supposed to meet him here one last time but failed to do so a few days prior. I entered the cave still dressed in my wedding kimono and searched for him. After about a week of hopeless searching, I collapsed in this cavern. When I awoke, there was a barrier keeping me here."

            "Why? Who put up the barrier?"

            Kameko didn't answer for a few minutes. "The barrier is here to keep me from finding Gin and to keep Gin from realizing that I'm looking for him. It's Kin's barrier, though partially Gin and I also had a hand in making it so strong." She paused trying to collect her thoughts. Shippou sat and waited with baited breath. "You see, this barrier is part of a simple curse. A curse that prevents soulmates from ever meeting."

            "Soulmates?" Shippou asked unfamiliar with the term. 

            "When a pair of people are meant to be together because their souls are so closely bound to one another, they are called soulmates. It's as if their souls call out to one another, searching the world over until they meet."

            "Wow," was about all Shippou could think of to say in response.

            "That's actually how Kirara came upon this cave."

            "Huh? Kirara has a soulmate here?"

            "Not exactly. Your friend Sango is inside this cave, correct?"

            "Hai."

            "Kirara and Sango must be very close if she can see the cave entrance. Souls can be intertwined for more than one reason. For true love, for lasting friendship, and for fate."

            "Wait! Wait! So in order to see the cave you have to be a soulmate of someone inside?!" Shippou shrieked half out of eureka-just-dawning-on-him-thought and half out of pure excitement. 

            "Yes…" Kameko trailed off unsure of the child's glee.

            Shippou turned to Kirara, "But Miroku _could see the cave!"_

**~**

            Miroku quietly crept through the cave tunnels, an exhausted Sango clinging to his back—a much easier and less draining way to carry her. He wasn't completely sure if he'd have to face Kin and Mikomi again on his way back out. 

            He came to the mouth of the cavern he fought them in and strained to listen for sounds, movement, distant arguments, anything. The cave was quiet. Too quiet as if a trap lay in wait.

            "Mmnhm…" Sango groaned in his ear. That caused Miroku to jump and almost drop her. 

            _'Sheesh. Even unconscious you can make my heart skip a beat,' Miroku thought readjusting her on his back. "Are you __trying to kill me?" Miroku whispered ever so lightly. He paused to listen again. Hearing nothing he peered out from around the corner. _

            The cavern was exceptionally well lit, and in it he saw no trace of Mikomi or Kin. He almost expected to find her sitting on her mat rolling bandages, but not even the mat was left behind. Something wasn't right. The entire cave gave off a bad aura; Miroku couldn't pinpoint anything at this moment. He didn't know if he'd be walking into a trap or not, and worse getting an unconscious Sango involved. 

            He looked beyond the cavern and saw the small, dark opening he needed to shoot for. The one with all the pointy formations. Miroku took a deep breath and headed out slowly. Once he was about halfway through the cavern he started to pick up his pace. The metal rings on his shakujyou jingled softy as it tapped the ground in his haste. Those soft jingles were amplified a hundred-fold throughout the large cavern and as if they were a dinner bell ringing a dozen pairs of red, beady eyes opened from the dark ceiling above. 

            The bats swarmed down on them. Miroku attempted to swat them away with his staff but it was no use. He couldn't function as well with Sango on his back. 

            As a bat swooped down to attack it got caught in Sango's hair. Her eyes shot open and she instinctively backhanded the bat into the wall. Disoriented she lashed out at anything and everything that moved—including Miroku. 

            "Ow…ow…Sango stop," Miroku said dropping his shakujyou to the ground. The bats scattered off into the darkness and Sango sheepishly met the gaze of her victim. "You _are trying to kill me," Miroku smiled seeing that she was awake. _

            Sango let out a soft sigh, unsure how to respond to his comment. If she were trying to kill him he'd be dead, but somehow she didn't think that's what he meant. "Gomen ne. Daijobu ka?" 

            "I'll be fine," Miroku assured her, "it's not like you haven't hit me before."

            Sango blushed. Here he was innocently trying to save her and she goes beating on him as if he just said that Kagome agreed to bear his child. Because, of course, the issue there wouldn't be that the person most unlikely to agree agreed but that he had the nerve to ask again. 

            Miroku looked puzzled by Sango's expression. Just what was she thinking about anyway. "Sango?" he asked tentatively. 

            "Nani?"

            "Do you think you can stop digging your fingers into my shoulders?"

            They had managed to make it across the cavern when Miroku noticed that Mikomi was standing in the entrance to the dark tunnel that they needed. "I told you, you're not leaving here alive," she said coldly not looking up from the ground.

            Sango peered over Miroku's shoulder. "Mikomi?" she asked.

            Miroku's eyes darted to Sango for a brief second, _'You know her?' he thought. Mikomi began to move and he turned his full attention back on her. _

            "You," Mikomi began slowly looking up. Her eyes were stained red with tears. She looked as if she had been crying for days straight—though obviously she hadn't. "You killed my sons." She glowered right through Miroku piercing Sango's heart with an icy death glare. 

            "No..n..not _all of them," Sango stammered._

            "You bitch! You think that makes up for anything!" Mikomi lunged at Sango.

 Miroku threw his arms out to grab the crazed woman before she could hurt anyone. By doing so he'd lost his grip on Sango and she began to slide off of his back. Landing harshly on her leg, Sango collapsed to the ground. She didn't take her eyes off of Mikomi's but her hand hit something cold—something metal. She picked up Miroku's discarded staff to use as support. 

            Mikomi saw Sango get to her feet and was getting more aggravated by the minute with her obstacle. Imitating one of Miroku's earlier moves, Mikomi placed her knee into him and as he collapsed in pain she dove for Sango. 

**~**

            "Wait! Are you suggesting that your friends could be soulmates?" Kameko asked getting to her feet in the excitement. 

            "Well…he's been searching for her real badly, and he could see the cave, and…" Shippou didn't really know how to respond.

            "Yes… I know that he's been searching for her. I've actually been the one trying to lead him to her. But I didn't actually think that my luck could be so much as to actually find a pair of soulmates in the city at the same time within the first hundred years of my imprisonment."

            "Huh? What? Why is it so important if they're soulmates?" Shippou asked.

            "Well I'm assuming that they haven't gone as far as to profess their love for one another yet. If that's true then…his heart would be unclouded with visions of romance…and…and he could focus his feelings on finding her. And being a houshi he knows how to follow his instincts so… so…"

            "SO… WHAT?" Shippou asked about to leap out of his fur. 

            "So they might the legendary couple who will be able to break the spell."

**~**

            Recovering slightly from his dizzy spell Miroku managed to make his way to the girls. He arrived just in time to catch Sango and keep her from full out smacking her head on the ground. Mikomi hovered above them with the shakujyou in her hand. She lifted it above her head to bring it down on the insolent pair. 

            "Okaa-san! Stop!" a voice thundered across the cavern. 

            Mikomi turned to see Kikai and a girl standing in the middle of the cavern. "Okaa-san, stop. Don't kill her, she's a good person. She spared my life even after I crushed her knee."

            "Crushed her knee?" Miroku asked feeling anger well up within him.

            Sango put a hand on his shoulder knowing where his mind was going. "Daijoubu," she whispered to him. It was more of a warning to back off than a reassurance. 

            "Kikai?" Mikomi said dropping the staff and running over to her oldest child.

            Sango nodded at him in appreciation and gestured for Miroku to grab his weapon and for them to get out of there as fast as they could. 

**~**

            "So what exactly are we looking for?" Kagome asked watching Inu-Yasha sniff at all the rocks and feel his way along the base of the mountain. 

            "A rip. Some place that looks like rock but isn't really there."

            "Uh-huh? And we're just magically going to happen upon it? And what then? Do we go charging in not knowing if we can ever get out or if that's even the right rip? I mean there could be more than one, right?"

            Inu-Yasha paused, his nose sniffing the air. He turned to look at her. "Why are you gettin' so worked up about this?"

            "I—I'm not getting worked up. It's…It's just that you're talking about going into another dimension."

            "And?"

            "And…I'm not …I'm not sure I can handle that." 

            Inu-Yasha stood and walked over to her. "You can travel back in time through your well but you can't travel to another dimension through the mountain?" 

            Kagome knew she was being unreasonable, but something about jumping into an unknown world **_on purpose didn't sit right with her. She had been tentative about going back into the well when she thought it would take her home, and then he had to come to bring her back. Okay true she'd willingly jumped into his right pupil to chase after Sesshoumaru and get the Tetsusaiga but… that was different. Somehow knowing that it was a. Inu-Yasha's eye and b. created by his father made it safe enough to risk entering. Like she said she knew she was being unreasonable, but that's just the way it was going to be._**

            Inu-Yasha couldn't read her thoughts but he could read that expression clearly. Kagome didn't want to enter the mysterious cave and he wasn't going to force her. After all, it was just Miroku and the others; they had been fine without them in the beginning. She was all he really cared about anyway. Well Kagome and the Shikon no Tama. Okay…Kagome, the Shikon no Tama, and beating Naraku with it…for Kikyo. Right? Inu-Yasha sat down on a rock under a tree and gestured for her to join him. 

            "Then we'll sit out here and wait for them to return." 

            Kagome nodded and took a seat beside him. 

**~**

            Miroku had placed Sango on his back once again and safely navigated the stalactite maze with the use of a torch. He paused briefly at the fork where he'd left Shippou and Kirara. Deciding not to go after them he turned the way to head out. Sango had fallen asleep yet again, only this time, he thought, she seemed lighter. 

            Making his way to the cave entrance he could see that night had fallen outside. He didn't want to go so far that Shippou and Kirara wouldn't be able to find them. He gently laid Sango down at the back of the cave and went to make a fire. 

            The fire blazed a few feet away, and for the first time he could see just exactly how battered she was. Her lovely silk kimono had been ripped, and her right knee protruded from the tear at an odd angle. Her leg was caked in dried blood, and she had many cuts and bruises on the parts of her body that could be seen. He didn't even want to think about the parts that couldn't. Tearing the hem of his robes he went into the cave a ways and found a decent sized puddle. Having soaked the material he returned and bandaged her knee and cleaned as many of the cuts and scrapes as he could. He was wiping blood from her cheek when her eyes fluttered open partway. She wrapped her hand around his and said, "Arigatou Houshi-sama." 

            Miroku smiled, _'You don't have to thank me. I'm sorry I couldn't have found you sooner.'_

            "Thank you for coming to find me…Houshi-sama…" she said trailing off again. 

            _'Okay that's it!' "Why do you call me Houshi-sama? I mean every single time you address me? At first I thought it was because you didn't know my name, and then because you didn't care to use it. But…"_

            "So I don't forget…" she mumbled out.

            "Forget?"

            "…that you're not a normal person."

            "Sango, I'm a person the same as anyone else."

            She shook her head, "No you're not… you're… you're…" _a pervert, a lecher, someone I have to smack for being… a…pervert. You're not someone I can allow myself to fall for you're… you're… "Houshi-sama."_

            Miroku sighed. He wasn't going to get anywhere when she was delirious like this. He got up and walked over to the cave entrance. _Was that Kagome and Inu-Yasha sitting out there? Couldn't they see the cave either? Miroku reached out towards them. He was going to say something when his hand hit a hard surface. __Uh-oh. The wall was solid on this side, meaning that Shippou and Kirara had better be finding a way to get through the barrier. _

            Miroku went to sit beside the fire and stare at it thinking about what Sango—who was sound asleep around the other side of the fire—had said and what she had almost done earlier. He hadn't gotten very far in his thoughts when he dozed off against the rock behind him. 

**~**

            Morning rays hit Kagome's face and she began to stir. Moving away from the warmth of Inu-Yasha's shoulder Kagome sat up on the rock. _Where were they again? Oh yeah outside of some creepy cave entrance. "Inu-Yasha?" Kagome began._

            "No one came out all night long."

            "That's not what I was going to ask. Are you hungry?"

**~**

            Inside the cave, Sango watched as Miroku crossed to sit on a large rock, looking out of the cave. She felt her pulse quicken as she remembered her first dream. Of course, that made her think of her hair. She touched it and to her surprise it was very smooth and straw-free. That's when she realized the soft thudding noise she had heard moments earlier was his hand falling from her hair. Forcing herself to stand up she made her way over to the rock. "Houshi-sama, how did you find me?" she asked from behind him.

            There was no response. Sango took a deep breath and edged her way around the rock to see that he was staring out into the sunlight with a very blank expression on his face.

            "Houshi-sama?" she tried again. 

            …Silence….

            Sango sighed. "Miroku-sama?" she said taking a different approach, vaguely remembering his question. 

            "…"

            "So you bandaged my knee and brushed my hair, what else did you do?"

            Nothing.

            She blinked a few times, "Miroku?" she said leaning against the rock so that she was looking directly at his face. "I'll bear your child," she said casually. 

            There was a pause. 

            "Hn?" Miroku blinked and turned to meet her gaze. 

            "Daijoubu ka, Houshi-sama?" Sango smiled. 

            "What did you say?" Miroku looked at her uncertain of what he had heard.

            " 'Daijoubu ka?' ?"

            "No before that."

            "How did you find me?"

            "Oh," he paused and looked out of the cave again. "Is that all you said?"

            Sango sighed, "Are you alright?"

            Miroku looked at her and slapped on a fake smile, "Hai, daijoubu."

            Sango stared into his blue eyes for a moment trying to read what she sensed behind them. "How did you find me?"

            Miroku let out a happy sigh at the change of subject, "Kirara showed me the cave."

            Sango nodded and stared waiting for more after all it was a huge cave. 

            "And from there?" he paused and looked at his shakujyou, "was pure dumb luck."

            Sango sighed and smiled, _'You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.'_

            Miroku returned her smile and thought to himself, _'What was I supposed to say? I followed my heart, but I can't tell you that.'_

            Sango stood at the base of the rock before Miroku. She reached her hand up to touch his wary face, "Thank you."

            "For what?"

            "For tracking me down, for bandaging my knee, for… right now," she said slowly removing her hand from his face. "Shall we get out of here?" Slowly she turned and headed for the opening a few feet away.

            "Uh…Sango," Miroku said reaching out to her.

            Before Sango could reach the exit, her knee buckled on her and she fell forward. Bracing herself expecting to crash to the ground, she was surprised when she was supported by something a foot in front of her. 

            Miroku was off the rock and at her side before she sank to the ground. 

            "We're in some kind of mystical cave. We can't just walk out."

            "No wonder why those people couldn't find their way back through the waterfall," she sighed.

            "Don't worry. I'm sure Shippou will have the answer when he and Kirara return," Miroku assured her holding out a hand to help her to her feet. Now that she was awake he wasn't going to force her to accept his help.

            Sango smiled inwardly and placed her hand in his_. 'Is he being nice because I'm hurt?' she wondered. _

            Miroku set her on the rock and positioned her leg so that it lay across the rock too. With Sango facing one side of the cave, Miroku climbed back up the rock and faced the opposite cave wall. Sango sighed, "It's almost midday. Where are they?"

            Kagome walked back over to her shaded rock. "Now wasn't that worth going back to get my bag?" she asked watching Inu-Yasha consume the last of her instant ramen. 

            "Kagome-chan!" Sango said about to leap off the rock.

            "They can't hear us." Miroku said adjusting for her weight shift. 

            Sango looked puzzled, "What do you mean they can't hear us?"

            "Or see us for that matter. To them this is a solid mountain."

            "Sou ka."

            They sat in silence for a while.

            "Hey, Inu-Yasha. Do you think Miroku found Sango yet?"

            "Feh. How should I know? That bouzu probably got sidetracked with a group of women and is still asking them all to bear his children."

            "Or I could be chucking small rocks at your head," Miroku said as he idly tossed loose stones at the cave entrance. 

            "Houshi-sama, don't be so hard on him. Generally that is what you'd be doing."

            Miroku sat up sharply and leapt off the stone. Sango crashed into the rock behind her. "Ow."

            "Sorry. I had to get more rocks," Miroku said picking up stones. 

            Sango sighed, "Gomen ne, I shouldn't have said that."

            After a moment and hearing a loud thud followed by swearing from outside, Miroku returned to his position behind Sango. 

            "Bitch," Inu-Yasha said picking himself up.

            "Well don't be such an idiot." Kagome sighed_, 'That was a little drastic, Kagome. It's not like he lied; Miroku does do those things. But… but not when Sango's life is on the line.' _

            "I still owe him a beating for groping you the other day," Inu-Yasha pouted to himself.

            "Do you _want me to say it again?" Kagome asked. __'You don't own me. Well…not really…'_

            "You groped Kagome?"

            "By pure accident, I assure you."

            "How can you grope someone by accident?"

            "Mistaken identity."

            "Houshi-sama…" Sango glowered.

            Miroku took a deep breath and braced himself to be smacked, "I… I thought she was you."

            The smack did not come, and Sango didn't say anything. Truth be told she was blushing_. Am I supposed to hit him for that or be flattered? _

            "Well if you hadn't walked away right then… then none of this would have happened because no one would have grabbed you out of the alley while you were smacking me across the square."

            "No one grabbed me. I followed Gin…" Sango stopped when she felt Miroku tense behind her.

            "You followed him? Why would you just follow some strange guy you don't know?"

            "Well… actually…I followed the mask he was carrying."

            "Wait. Wait. Wait. Let me get this straight. You saw a guy in town and you followed him only for it to turn out that you followed a youkai into a trap and couldn't escape on your own. So I had to come and rescue you. Does this seem oddly familiar and yet backwards to you?"

            Sango sweatdropped. "You're never going to let me live this down, are you?"

            Miroku just laughed. "What a pair we make."

            "How's that?"

            "You're a taiji-ya who couldn't tell that you were following a youkai into a dark, mystical cave without your weapon. And I spend most of my time hitting on various women and yet when it comes down to it I can't tell the two I spend every waking hour with apart."

            Sango laughed and for it Miroku was glad. It had been a long time since he'd heard her laugh and he was worried that after this it would be a long time until he did again.

            When the laughter died down Miroku felt it was safe enough to ask. "Sango?"

            "Hm?"

            "Earlier… Did you say that you would bear my child?"

            Sango's expression changed and she thought of something else. Her future. Their future. She turned so that she was facing the entrance. Upon doing so Miroku lost his balance and fell into her lap. She grabbed his right hand and stared at it intently. 

            "Nani?"

            "Do you know what those masks do?"

            Miroku stared at her. _'Uh…' "…no."_

            "They let you see the future. Well a future, and in it…" she trailed off.

            "What?" he gently prompted. 

            "You no longer were cursed with the kazaana."

            Miroku looked up at her. "You saw that?"

            She nodded. "Knowing that it's possible," she paused and moved her gaze from his hand to his face, "I'm certain that we'll win. We'll defeat him and you'll be free from this curse and…"

            "You'll be free from your pain," he interrupted her taking her face in his hands. 

            Sango smiled, "And if all of that were to happen… then… I would…"

            Miroku knew what she was trying to say. She'd consider it. If he were actually a normal person who didn't have a void in his hand and wasn't constantly chasing everyone else she'd consider… 

At that moment in time he wanted to kiss her. Just knowing that she cared enough to try and make him feel better when all he wanted to do was make her feel safe meant so much that… 

            Holding her in his arms he moved upward towards her face. Sango didn't back away, somewhere deep down the course of the past week had told her she wanted this too. She closed her eyes and allowed him to pull her closer.

            "Taiji-ya-sama! Houshi-sama," an elderly voice echoed from behind them. Startled Sango pushed Miroku off the rock. He landed hard on the ground with a thud. 

            "Ow. Now I know what Inu-Yasha feels like," he said getting to his feet. 

            "You must hurry," the old woman continued having gotten their attention. 

            "Hurry?" Sango and Miroku said in unison.

            "You must exit the cave before one day's time has passed since Houshi-sama has entered the caves."

            "You found me that quickly?" she said looking at him.

            "Why?" Miroku asked ignoring Sango's question. "How?"

            The old woman smiled, "In order to break the curse, the legend says that a couple must leave together within a days time."

            "Legend?" Sango asked.

            "Couple?" Miroku inquired over her question.

            "Legend… big long story. Couple… you two… a pair of humans. Now quickly would you pick her up and walk out of here?" Shippou said coming into the cave mouth, having run down the path as fast as his little legs would carry him.  

            "It can't be that easy," Miroku said.

            Sango sighed, "Well, we won't find out unless we try."

            Miroku looked at her, nodded, and lifted her off the rock. Not really having a lot of room and not trusting this theory completely, Miroku leaned up against the cave entrance behind him instead of turning to walk out. Feeling the solid wall behind his back he raised an eyebrow at Shippou and the old woman. 

            "Uh-oh Kameko, what if they're not sou…" Shippou began.

            "Whoa…" Miroku said as he fell backwards Sango in his arms. 

            Sango looked up from her place on the ground. "We're outside." She looked down at Miroku and repeated, "we're outside."

            Miroku looked up at her. "I can see that. Do you think you can get off my chest?"

            Sango smiled forcedly, "Do you think you can get your hand off my rear?"

            Miroku looked down and sure enough… He smiled. "You know for a minute or so there I thought I had lost my 'touch.'"

            "Houshi-sama…" Sango glowered putting her fist into the ground next to his head.

            He smiled removing his hand, "Hey I couldn't let Kagome be the last person I groped." 

            Sango sighed. _You are so hopeless there is no way that future could ever be true. Looking up she saw Kagome and Inu-Yasha staring at them. "Kagome-chan! Kagome-chan!" Sango called out attempting to lift herself from the ground. Falling up the hill, she turned back to look behind her. "Kirara," she said seeing the small fire-cat sitting on a rock inside the cave. Kirara bounded out into the light after her, transformed and picked her up. Sango looked over her shoulder as Kirara ascended the hill to take her to Kagome.  Inside the cave stood a pretty, young bride, she waved graciously at them and Sango not knowing what to do or who she was simply smiled back.   _

            Miroku sat up staring at the fact that his feet disappeared into the side of a mountain. He blinked again. "Uh… Shippou," he said knowing that he could hear him, "make sure that the fire is out, and could you grab my shakujyou?" 

            Before Miroku could finish his sentence, Shippou hit him in the head with his staff. "Didn't you hear me?" Shippou asked coming out after it. 

            "Ow. No, I can't see into the cave anymore. Can you help me get my feet out?"

            "Just stand up, bouzu."

            Miroku turned to see Inu-Yasha standing beside him poking at the mountain. 

            "Sango-chan, what happened to you?"

            "I followed a bat youkai into his cave because I thought the mask he had was covered in shikon shards. Miroku found me just after I'd exterminated four bat youkai and been taken down by one measly human boy. Then we came out that cave right there," Sango said pointing behind her.

            "Cave?" Kagome asked. Sango followed her gaze. 

            "Weird. It should be right behind where Houshi-sama and Inu-Yasha are standing. I saw it just a minute ago."

            "Where'd the old woman go?" Miroku asked Shippou as they headed up the hill to Sango and Kagome. 

            "Kameko? Oh… it was really cool when you two fell through the wall you broke the spell and she turned back into her young self even though she wasn't inside her sealed cavern. I think she went to find her soulmate, Gin."

            Sango smiled, "So she's Kameko?" _See Gin you have to believe in the happiest possible future. She looked at Miroku… __I know I will. _

-------------------------------------The End----------------------------------------

Author's Notes: Wow… most of this had been sitting on my computer just waiting for me to post it, but I was so downhearted that Chapter 4 didn't get reviews that I lost all motivation to finish it. Well… last night I checked my page for the first time in a while and the two little reviews for Chapter 4 inspired me to stay up all night long writing, despite the fact that tomorrow I take my Medical College Admission Test. Wish me luck! 

  I hope everyone enjoyed. That was the end unless I include a short prologue about Kameko and Gin's reunion. I might have gotten a little out of character there in the last chapter but just think of it this way: I've been under a lot of stress, the characters have just gone through a very odd ordeal… and so my real-life stress became their post-traumatic delusions. Oh yeah… that… and… uh the void… yeah, yeah the void!…it messes with your head… yeah right… that's the reason.  

Wow… I guess I should thank people: Usa-chan who's going to read this in a few hours and show me all my grammatical mistakes. Queen-chan who's going to take me to an anime convention the day after tomorrow (relief after big test)… oh yeah and for sparking some of these ideas whether she knows it or not. The two people whose brief reviews inspired my muses to return for one night.  Please, as you can tell I write better and faster when people review and tell me what they think. 


	6. Epilogue- The Soulmates

~ Epilogue ~

The Soulmates

"So then Kikai appeared and Mikomi dropped the shakujyou and ran over to him. If I'm not mistaken he was with the girl whose family I had passed when walking down the cave." Sango concluded recalling her ordeal. Bandaged and sitting on a comfortable mat in a warm room with her hiraikotsu just feet away put her at ease as she stared into the faces of her closest friends. 

            "And that's all that happened, right? You're not leaving anything out?" Miroku asked to reassure himself that she hadn't been molested or something worse. He would never forgive himself if he had been too late to stop something like that. He was already kicking himself for ignoring Kirara for so long. 

            Sango looked into the eyes of her savior as he sat across from her, "I promise, other than attempting to describe my vision of the future or the weird dreams I had about my family…" Sango stopped herself before she said too much, "I'm not leaving anything out. 

            Kagome noticed as relief swept across the houshi's face and she smiled. "So did anyone ever figure out how the cave came to be?"

            Shippou smiled, "Okay now this I can tell. There was this bat youkai named Gin who fell in love with a beautiful human named Kameko, and she loved him back. But Kameko's family didn't like the idea of her marrying a youkai so the arranged for her to marry some guy that she'd never even met. On the way to his village to be wed she jumped out of her carriage to go and find Gin. However, Gin's heart had already been broken and a void was beginning to grow because of it. This void turned into the cave in the mountain and when Kameko entered it to look for him, it was so large that she couldn't find him in the first week. 

            Kin, Gin's twin brother is a good-for-nothing youkai who placed a curse on Gin and Kameko that they would never meet. But because they were soulmates their hearts cried out to one another and so Kin had to make the curse greater and it affected the entire void. So that anyone who entered would be stuck forever and would not ever be able to find their soulmate."

            "I have a question," Inu-Yasha said from his position just outside of the storytelling group. "How did you three find this cave?"

            "Kirara showed us," Miroku replied.

            "Yes, but how did she know where it was?"

            Shippou raised his hand to speak. "There's one other thing that Kameko told me about the cave. It has been set up so that if your soulmate is on the inside then you can see the cave entrance outside so that you know where to go to find them."

            "Well that's just mean…" Kagome began, "If there's a curse preventing you from finding your soulmate and yet you're drawn to the cave because they're in there then the two of you will forever be wandering the cave in search of one another."

            "Actually it was supposed to be a ray of hope that one day the curse would be broken." Shippou said again. Proud that for once he was the one with all the information. The day-saving-information. 

            "Wait. Wait… before we go any further. What the hell is this soulmate crap?" Inu-Yasha asked, also unfamiliar with the term.

            "Oh," Kagome said, "your soulmate is the person who you were destined to be with. The one person that your soul leads you to find because your souls are attracted to each other."

            "Oh." Inu-Yasha said.

            "Basically your soulmate is your true love and the person you are meant to spend the rest of your life with," Kagome concluded hoping that what she said was simple enough to understand. She looked at Inu-Yasha and thought, I wonder if I would have been able to see the cave if you'd walked into it. Realizing what she was thinking she began to blush which made her have to look at someone else. Looking over at Miroku she noticed that his cheeks were a little flushed and he was looking down at his hands.

            Miroku knew that he could see the cave because Sango was inside. Because as soon as she was clear from it he couldn't see the cave any more. Which meant… which meant that Sango was his… his… soulmate. Miroku's cheeks reddened further. 

            Sango looked at Shippou the last thing he said had left her curious, "Shippou, you said there was a way to break the curse?"

            "Oh yeah, the legendary couple."

            "The legendary couple?!" Kagome, Sango, and Miroku said at once looking at Shippou. Miroku glanced at Sango and saw that she was looking at him and his face flushed again and he decided that his hands were more interesting than anything else in the world at that moment. 

            Sango stared at Shippou in confusion and something slowly began to sink into her… didn't Shippou say that they had broken the curse? That Kameko was free because of them? Because of her and… she looked up towards Miroku. He glanced up at her and instantly reddened and turned his gaze downward. Then…that means he understands what Shippou is implying too.

            Shippou continued. "Legend has it that there will one day be a pair of soulmates who will instantly find each other in the cave and be able to break the barrier of the void and leave thus breaking the curse."

            Sango swallowed hard, "A… a pair of soulmates…" she said looking at the little kitsune, not daring to look up any higher than his face. "But that's impossible… I mean after we were free from the cave we could still see the entrance. How do you explain that?"

            Shippou smiled, "You could still see the entrance because Miroku's feet were still on the other side. But I know for a fact that Miroku couldn't see it any longer because he couldn't hear me when I told him to catch his staff and threw it at him."

            "Any longer?" Kagome said catching on to what Shippou was saying.

            "Mmmhmm… Miroku could see it when Kirara dropped us off, but I couldn't. Which means that these two are…" Almost instantly Shippou had two fists come raining down on him from opposite sides. 

            As his eyes swirled and he no longer chattered away, the two blushing owners of the fists quickly pulled away from the proximity of the other. Kagome laughed a little while watching them, but didn't want to be the next victim of their embarrassment so quieted her giggles. After a minute or ten of uncomfortable silence, Sango spoke. "I wonder if Kameko ever found Gin."

            Deep inside the cave a beautiful young woman dressed in an intricate red kimono with white face paint smeared on her sleeve entered a high-ceilinged cavern. Upon second look, she realized that this cavern was the only truly existing part of the cave. This was the battle room that Kin and Gin had created for holding death matches between their enemies, their victims, each other. The walls used to be lined with the skulls of the losers. That was before Gin met her, fell in love with her, and left his twin's influence for her. Now, lining the walls of the cavern were beautiful masks, like the ones she used to collect. 

            She looked around but in her dark, brown surroundings she saw nothing but the masks. "Gin?" she called out unsure if he was hiding in the darkness. 

            Two feet in front of her the tall youkai spun around opening his stance so that camouflaging abilities disappeared. A tear rolled down his cheek as he said, "Kameko?"

            She smiled at him and flung herself into his opened arms. "I have been waiting for over fifty years to hear you say that." Upon completion of her words she began to cry from happiness.

            "You've been here this whole time?" he said hugging her tightly.

            Kameko nodded into his chest.

            "What about your wedding?" he said taking her face into his hands so that he could look into her eyes.

            "I couldn't marry him. Not when I was in love with you. Gin you're my soulmate and I would have gladly waited five hundred years to be with you again."

            "Less than a day, huh?" Sango said walking over to where Miroku sat under a tree. 

            He smiled briefly and gestured for her to join him. Sango sighed and took a seat beside him looking at a magnificent sunset.

            "Like I said 'pure dumb luck.'" Miroku sighed, "Of course I supposed it helped that your soul was screaming out to mine telling me which way to go. If I had followed the advice of the Buddha, which can obviously not break the curse any better than Gin and Kameko, I would have been lost and completely on the wrong path."

            "So what you're saying is that you followed your heart." Sango sighed looking at the dark swirls of purple forming on the edges of the yellow and pink rays of light. 

            Miroku nodded, '_she can also read minds.'_  "Basically," he replied softly looking down at his right hand. 

            Sango followed his movements as he traced his left fingers over his covered palm. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't know if I should tell you this or not," she took a deep breath, "In my vision of the future…I was sitting on a blanket retelling a tale based on this past week to my two young sons."

            Miroku turned his head to look at the side of her face, ever so close to his own. 

            Sango smiled in remembering her vision, "They were such handsome young men with their dark black hair and deep blue eyes. When they ran off to play with Inu-Yasha, Kagome, and a much taller Shippou, my husband came up behind me and placed his smooth, kazaana-free hands over my eyes." She turned her head to look at him, "Proof that someday, I just might actually bear you a few children."

            Miroku closed his eyes and leaned his head into hers so that their foreheads were resting on each other. 

            "Kagome tells me that you were so worried when you couldn't find me that you didn't eat or sleep and went around asking every person you could what they knew." Sango smiled, "If you were truly missing, I probably would have done the same thi…" Sango's words were cut off when Miroku's lips pressed against her own. Knowing exactly what to do, she wrapped a hand around his shoulders and pulled him in as she returned their first—and long-waited for—kiss. 

            As the sun's last rays cast everything in red and the two pulled apart their blushing couldn't be seen. "So where does this leave us?" Miroku asked just above a whisper.

            "That depends on how many women you plan to feel up between now and when we defeat Naraku," Sango smiled.

            "Honestly, from the time I first met you I haven't intentionally touched any other woman. I just…" Miroku sighed, "I don't know if I can just rely on your vision of one possible future to be so accurate that I can just stop and give up seeking out an heir."

            "I know…" she said as she wrapped her arms around his. "But… can you honestly tell me that you've kept track of every single woman and can tell me that you don't already have an heir to this curse?"

            "Hm," Miroku thought deeply turning his head to stare into her eyes. The last rays of light flickered off of her brown eyes and he grinned, leaned in to give her one light kiss, and said, "Does that really matter?"

            Sango smiled back at him, cutting off all circulation in his arm and said, "You are such a lecher."

            "Well I've grown rather accustomed to my ways, and I am under the impression that I cannot actually touch you until we defeat Naraku." He said putting a finger to her nose and clenching his jaw to try and ignore the pain shooting through his arm.

            "So stop focusing half of your attention on women and focus all of your attention on beating him," she said through gritted teeth.

            "Stop killing my arm and maybe I will," he replied back through gritted teeth.

            As darkness covered the land, their quiet arguing could be heard from the door of the house where Kagome and Shippou watched with awed expressions on their faces. 

            "Feh. This will never last. I give them ten minutes before he says or does something to make her slap him into that tree." Inu-Yasha said grumpily folding his arms and walking away from the opened door. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Notes:

            By now everyone should know that I do not own Inu-Yasha and that Rumiko Takahashi does.

            I thank her greatly for making such fun characters to write about and for not suing those of us who do. 

            Uh… if there are grammatical mistakes… live with them Usa-chan lives a state away and since we graduated from college it's not likely that I'll be running things past her anytime soon. Besides there are always some mistakes in just about every chapter. 

**~**

            Okay… So some of you may have noticed the sporadic Japanese terms that keep popping up in my writing. Um… well they exist in my writing because they exist in my speech. Which is really embarrassing when you go into a Chinese restaurant and say random Japanese phrases and they look at you like you're stupid and don't know the difference between the two countries. Okay for those of you who truly have no idea what these words mean I'll define for you anything non-Inu-Yasha related right now. "Hai" means yes, "Iie" means no, "Mou" is a sound to express anger or frustration, "Nani?" means what? "Arigatou" means thank you, "Kon'nichi wa" means hello, "Daijoubu ka?" means "are you alright?" and "Daijoubu" is the response meaning, "I am alright/I am fine," By itself  "daijoubu," simply means that "It is fine/ things are okay."

            In the fight sequence I used words like "Koi" which means come or at it is generally translated "bring it on," and "Yosh," which well is something said when you've just kicked someone's butt, or broke a videogame record, or the girl of your dreams just agreed to go out with you and is now out of earshot… you get the idea :-) "Oi" is simply another spelling of Oy, or hey.  "Suke" is a not so polite word that Inu-Yasha says a lot (usually after he's been sat). "Hentai" pretty much means Pervert… as in Really Big Pervert who needs to get his hands off of my person.

            Okay people, "Jii-jii" (if I didn't take the word out) means old geezer, and "Baa-baa" means old hag. "Oji" in the case of when Kikai said it means uncle. "Okaa-san" means mother. 

            I'm sure there are scores of other words that are in there… if you're chibi then you are small, if you're a baka then you're an idiot, and a kitsune is a fox… anything else that you need to know or haven't figured out by reading other fanfics, watching Inu-Yasha (because I know a dubbed version doesn't exist—er at least it didn't when I wrote and posted this), or by reading the manga… uh… well e-mail me, ask your friends, consult with your alien abductors or just shrug it off and pray that one day you figure it out on your own. ^_~

**~**

            I couldn't decide if I wanted them to actually learn that they were soulmates or not, but I couldn't honestly see Shippou keeping that a secret. And the little kitsune is so young that getting to rub it into their faces when he had the chance had to seem so much more appealing than telling Kagome and Inu-Yasha behind their backs. 

            I decided that since this is a romance (and since I let Shippou spill the beans) to go ahead and let them have their moment because who knows if it'll ever happen in the show. ^_~

            As for Inu-Yasha's last comment, I'll leave it up to your imaginations on how the rest of the night plays out. How long do you think it will be until Sango handprints his face? 

            I just wanted to add that there is a sequel to this story. It's also listed on fanfiction.net it's called _Miroku's Worst Fear_. If you haven't already, go check it out. Another interesting curse has been met by our favorite couple, how will they handle this one? 


End file.
